Drake is expected to earn a substantial return on his investment due to a potential sale of the Los Angeles-based company Dave’s Hot Chicken, in which he invested. Reuters reported that a sale could value the popular restaurant chain at about $1 billion, including debt.
Dave’s Hot Chicken began as a pop-up in Los Angeles in 2017 and has since grown to over 250 locations globally, generating an estimated $1 billion in yearly sales.
Reuters reported last week that the restaurant is working with North Point, an investment bank, and is “exploring a potential sale” of up to $1 billion.
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The Pasadena, California-based fried chicken company is collaborating with North Point on a sale process that is generating interest from private equity firms, according to sources who asked to remain anonymous because the conversations are confidential.
The discussions come at a time when restaurant operators, such as Dave’s, are dealing with rising labor expenses and attempting to pass on some of the recent bout of inflation to customers by raising menu pricing.
Dave’s, noted for its Nashville-style hot chicken, has benefited from rising customer demand for chicken in recent years.
Dave’s founders, Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, Tommy Rubenyan, and Gary Rubenyan, started the business in an East Hollywood parking lot eight years ago after scraping together $900.
With over 1,000 franchise locations in the United States, the restaurant, which is majority owned by its founders, welcomed the 38-year-old rapper as an investor in 2021 and has also gotten support from other celebrities, such as actor Samuel L. Jackson.
At the time, Eater said, “He has a very good stake.”
According to Oganesyan, the collaboration began in July of that year, when Drake’s team requested that Dave’s Hot Chicken serve a party he was organizing to celebrate receiving Billboard’s Artist of the Decade Award. The partners subsequently struck up a conversation with Drake’s team while serving food.
“We really vibed with his team, including (longtime friend and manager) Future The Prince, who is also one of his good friends,” Oganesyan remarked. “He’s an awesome guy and we talked to him for a while. Afterwards, they expressed a little bit of interest in partnering up with the company to see what they can do because they liked the food so much.”
The co-founder made a joke at the time about not naming sandwiches after the Canadian singer. Oganesyan explained that Drake’s interest is a partnership.
“I feel like genuinely there’s this desire between both brands to collaborate on really cool stuff. We’ll know more and more as we keep talking to each other. And I think honestly, what we really want to do is just bring cool experiences to his fans and our customers. That’s the real main goal of the partnership,” Oganesyan noted.
With a net worth of around $250 million, Drake has built an empire that goes beyond music. From his whiskey brand to his luxury real estate investments, the rapper is making big money, with his music catalog alone worth millions.
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