Ovation Brands Under New Ownership

Food Management Partners has acquired Ovation Brands, owner of five buffet brands and casual-dining Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse.

Greer, S.C.-based Ovation Brands has 328 restaurants in 35 states; its concepts include Ryan’s, Fire Mountain, Country Buffet, Old Country Buffet and Hometown Buffet. With the acquisition, San Antonio-based FMP’s portfolio has expanded to 500 restaurants. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but FMP said the acquisition also includes a millwork and manufacturing facility in Minnesota.

Privately held FMP’s other concepts include Don Pablo’s, Furr’s Fresh Buffet and its Dynamic Foods subsidiary and Zio’s Italian Kitchen. In April, the company acquired Carlsbad, Calif.-based Catalina Restaurant Group, parent to the family-dining Coco’s Bakery Restaurants and Carrows Restaurants, and closed more than half of the company’s 149 restaurants, citing poor performance.

Ovation Brands, renamed in 2012 from Buffets Inc., has gone through several bankruptcy proceedings in recent years. Its roots date to 2006, when Buffets Inc. and Ryan’s Restaurant Group merged into a 675-unit buffet company.