Sale of Legal Sea Foods

On December 22, 2020, CEO Roger Berkowitz announced the sale of the catering portion of the company to PPX Hospitality Brands, a Medford-based hotel group. Berkowitz retains rights to sell products online and at retail under the name Legal Sea Foods. [10] After the sale to PPX, the Boston Globe reported that Roger Berkowitz had left several sellers unpaid and owed hundreds of thousands of debts. [11] The company generated revenue of $227.7 million in 2019, according to Restaurant Business` sister company, Technomic. In the email, Jalbert said the proceeds from the sale, which he did not quantify, were used to repay a secured loan from the lender with the first dibs on the old legal money that others have confirmed to be Rockland Trust. Jalbert said there wasn`t enough money left to fully repay a lender backed by a junior. People familiar with the matter identified this second lender as private equity firm Seacoast Capital. „We are very pleased with PPX`s history with Double R Ranch and Snake River Farms, as well as North Coast Seafoods, as we have been able to showcase them as trusted suppliers with our same commitment to quality, sustainability and freshness,“ said Lapine. The sales representative, who highlighted the plight of unsecured creditors, had attached a PDF with two emails from Craig R. Jalbert, who identified himself as a certified insolvency and restructuring advisor at a Foxborough accounting firm. The COVID-19 pandemic — and the resulting significant losses to Legal and most other restaurants — forced Berkowitz to rethink the future of the business and consider selling the restaurant portion of the business. The „Welcome to Legal“ campaign launched in 2019 with ads that play on the legality of marijuana in Massachusetts.

The campaign received national attention, with comments from posts such as AdWeek and AdAge. [69] [75] After building a thriving restaurant chain — before the pandemic, Legal had annual sales of more than $200 million (€164 million) and 33 locations — Berkowitz believes it`s time for him and his family to focus on selling through other channels such as QVC and e-commerce. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Legal Sea Foods had 33 locations, 3,500 employees and annual sales of more than $200 million. [2] As of March 2020, Legal Sea Foods had closed all indoor restaurants. Over the summer, the restaurant chain began gradually reopening 18 of the largest locations in the greater Boston area. In August 2020, $10 million of the federal government`s paycheck protection program expired and the company began considering mergers with other restaurant operators. In December, the group merged with PPX Hospitality Brands, a subsidiary of Danu Partners. Under the terms of the sale, Roger Berkowitz retained control of online and retail sales as Legal Sea Foods, and PPX became the new owner of the restaurant network and quality control center in South Boston.

[46] [47] „After selling to them for over 30 years, I received this letter telling me that they would not pay me for the products they bought and used from September to December,“ the seller wrote. „They know it would cost me more to fight in court than I would get, and the same goes for the other 150 or so people they stiffened up.“ While Legal has been selling products like the popular clam chowder at retail and online for years, Berkowitz said he`s excited to „spend a lot more time“ developing sales through these channels. At the beginning of January, mussel chowder begins on the QVC teleshopping network. The sale also includes Legal`s quality control center in the Boston Seaport. The agreement enters into force immediately. At the end of 2020, a Boston restaurant giant changed hands. On Tuesday, Roger Berkowitz, president and CEO of Legal Sea Foods, announced the sale of his business to PPX Hospitality Brands, a Boston-based holding company that owns Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group and Strega Italiano. Legal Sea Foods is an institution in his hometown of Boston and the East Coast regions. The concept began as a food service supplement at the George Berkowitz fish processing facility and market.

For ease of use, the full-service restaurant asked customers to pay for their meal when ordering, not after consumption. Instead of spending money on real light fixtures, Berkowtiz Sr. placed brown paper bags on bare light bulbs hanging above the tables. PPX has been working with Boston, Massachusetts-based wholesaler North Coast for about 12 years to supply Smith & Wollensky`s restaurants, Matt King, PPX`s culinary director and executive chef, told SeafoodSource. In addition, Legal is working on a number of „other products“ to sell in grocery stores, according to Berkowitz.