Dallas Morning News reported:
Whataburger, the beloved burger chain with a 69-year family legacy in Texas, has sold a controlling interest in the company to Chicago-based investment banking firm BDT Capital.Crunchbase had this to say about BDT Capital Partners:
BDT Capital Partners is a private equity arm of BDT & Company.Whataburger will be PEU owner come fall. BDT Capital has New York roots. Founders Byron Trott worked for Goldman Sachs and William R. Bush for Fulbright Jaworski. An April 2009 press release stated:
William (“Bill”) Bush, is retiring from Fulbright after more than three decades to join BDT Capital Partners, a merchant bank based in Chicago, Illinois, that will invest in and advise family and entrepreneurially controlled or influenced companies. Bill will serve as a founding partner and General Counsel of BDT Capital Partners, along with founder and managing partner Byron Trott, formerly of Goldman Sachs.
PEU Erskine Bowles is Senior Advisor and non-Executive Vice Chairman of BDT Capital. Bowles founded Carousel Capital and served on Morgan Stanley's board until February 1, 2018. Morgan Stanley advised Whataburger's founding family on the sale.
Its employees work on all aspects of a business and serve both in advisory and investment roles.
BDT recently bought a stake in WhistlePig Whiskey. Heavy.com reported on other holdings:
BDT has majority shares in Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Panera, Einstein’s, and others. BDT also has majority shares in competing coffee companies, like Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee, and Sara Lee’s coffee.I hope Whataburger employees have a better PEU ownership experience than my health care coworkers. That's a topic for another story.
The Chicago Tribune reported in 2017 that BDT also had shares in Intelligentsia, Lou Malnati’s pizza chain, and Athletico Physical Therapy.
Update 12-15-24: PEU ownership came with many challenges for Whataburger and WaPo chronicled a number of them. The story includes longtime loyal customers abandoning the chain for poor service.
