Moe's being sold to Focus Brands, operator of ice cream stores

<p>Tex-Mex chain Moe's Southwest Grill LLC is being sold to ice cream store operator Focus Brands, its parent company, privately held Raving Brands, said Wednesday.</p><p>Atlanta-based Raving Brands said a definitive agreement was signed this past weekend with Focus Brands, which is completing the deal through a subsidiary.</p><p>A purchase price was not immediately announced. A Moe's spokeswoman declined to disclose the price.</p><p>The deal is expected to close in the summer.</p><p>Atlanta-based Focus Brands Inc. is the franchisor and operator of over 1,750 ice cream stores, bakeries, sandwich shops, and cafes in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 33 foreign countries. It operates under the brand names Carvel, Cinnabon and Schlotzsky's, and is the franchisor of Seattle's Best Coffee on military bases and in certain international markets. Including Moe's, Focus Brands said it will have more than $1 billion in annual systemwide sales.</p><p>Moe's Southwest Grill was launched in 2000. There are 344 Moe's locations in 38 states. It has nearly $300 million in annual systemwide sales.</p><p>News of the sale agreement follows a federal lawsuit filed against Moe's on March 30 by nearly two-dozen franchisees and their financial backers.</p><p>The suit alleges that the chain improperly took advertising dollars from the franchisees and failed to give money collected from restaurants to a charity as promised.</p><p>The suit accuses Moe' and Raving Brands Inc. of fraud, breach of contract, racketeering and other offenses.</p><p>The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages following a jury trial, a temporary receiver to be appointed to run Moe's and the payment of attorneys' fees.</p><p>The plaintiffs said in court papers they are especially concerned because they believed that Raving Brands was planning to sell Moe's to a third party.</p><p>Moe's has not commented in detail on the claims in the lawsuit.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc6b0)</p>