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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Hoping to salvage what they see as a sunken treasure, a New York-based group of investors has acquired a 39.7-percent stake in the Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips chain, installed new management and announced plans to begin testing a line of grilled entrees at the former fried-fish powerhouse.
Bruce R. Galloway, who invested $1 million in Arthur Teacher's in 1993 and led the more recent investment group, was named chairman of the 133-unit company.
"The seafood aspect of the fast-food industry has been very lackluster in the last 10 years," he said. "There has been zero innovation. We're very excited about the prospects for Arthur Treacher's."
Galloway appointed as president and chief executive R. Frank Brown, whose 17 years in the Shoney's Inc. system included eight as president of the then-635-unit Captain D's chain.
Brown left Captain D's in 1991 and became a franchisee of two Shoney's units in northern Utah and since has served as president of the Skipper's Seafood 'n Chowder chain which was recently purchased from NPC International.
"There's a very strong sense of pride in the Arthur Treacher's name among franchisees at the store level," Brown said.
Galloway's investment group secured a $2.5 million private placement to make the acquisition, of which $1.2 million was paid to former president James Cataland for a "significant portion" of his ownership position. The remaining $1.3 million will be used as working capital for the publicly traded company.
Cataland, who purchased Arthur Treacher's from bankruptcy court in 1984, will remain a consultant,...