Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based seafood restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods is selling its restaurants to PPX Hospitality Brands, but Legal President and CEO Roger Berkowitz will retain exclusive ownership rights of the Legal Sea Foods name in retail, e-commerce, and other non-restaurant channels.
Boston-based PPX, which also operate the Smith & Wollensky and The Strega Group restaurant chains, will immediately take ownership of Legal’s 27 restaurants, including airport locations, according to a Legal Sea Foods press release. PPX is also acquiring Legal’s quality control center, located in Boston’s Seaport.
The two companies declined to reveal the purchase price, but Berkowitz told The Boston Globe that Legal will receive payouts based on how well the restaurants perform in the future.
PPX and Legal will operate separately, but in a complementary fashion, to further expand the iconic brand, the two companies said in a press release.
“I am humbled by the dedication our employees have shown over the years in building Legal Sea Foods into the preeminent brand it is,” Berkowitz said. “Our restaurants will continue under the stewardship of PPX, and my family and I will own and operate the Legal Sea Foods brand in non-restaurant channels. I am excited to pursue a future focused on fish by further expanding the brand into e-commerce and retail."
Founded in 1950 as a small fish market in Inman Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Legal has been owned and operated by the Berkowitz family for the past 70 years. Berkowitz has been CEO since 1992.
Prior to the pandemic, Legal was thriving, sporting more than USD 200 million (EUR 164 million) in annual revenue, 33 locations, and 3,500 employees, according to The Boston Globe. But in August, Legal said it would permanently close two of its restaurants, and said it may be forced to close others in the future due to the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Roger Berkowitz.
