Type Private Products Leveraged buyout Number of employees 37+ Founder Neal K. Aronson | Industry Private equity Total assets $6 billion Website roarkcapital.com Founded 2001 | |
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Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, United States Subsidiaries Arby's, Wingstop, Primrose Schools, Miller's Ale House | ||
Roark Capital Group is an American private equity firm with over $6.5 billion in equity capital raised since inception that is focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies primarily in the franchise/multi-unit, restaurant and food, retail healthcare and business services sectors. The firm is named for Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel, The Fountainhead. The firm's name is not meant to connote any particular political philosophy but instead signifies the firm's admiration for the iconoclastic qualities of independence and self-assurance embodied by The Fountainhead's central figure.
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History
The firm, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 2001 by the current Managing Partner, Neal K. Aronson. Senior team members include President Paul D. Ginsberg, Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer Ezra S. Field, Senior Managing Director Erik O. Morris, and Managing Directors Timothy Armstrong, Stephen D. Aronson, Toby Chambers, and Steven Romaniello.
Prior to founding Roark Capital Group, Aronson was a co-founder of U.S. Franchise Systems. Roark has raised four institutional private equity funds. The firm raised its first institutional fund in 2005 with $413 million. The firm's second fund was closed in 2008 with $1 billion of investor commitments. The firm's third institutional fund was closed in 2012 with $1.5 billion of investor commitments. The firm's fourth fund was closed in December 2014 with $2.5 billion in investor commitments. Prior to its first fund, Roark raised capital on an as-needed basis, investing approximately $150 million in seven companies from 2001 through 2005.
Investments
Roark's current and former portfolio companies include: