The private investment firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners announced that two of their portfolio companies, Quiznos and Simeus Foods International, Inc. were honored recently by leading business organizations for their franchising and sales growth. 

The Quizno’s Master LLC was one of five companies recently inducted into the U.S Small Business Administration’s Hall of Fame. In December 2000, LLCP made a $13.9 million investment in Quiznos which provided growth capital and also enabled the founders to repurchase the company’s common stock through a going-private transaction. This growth capital investment helped rank Quiznos as one of the fastest growing sandwich chains in the nation, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. The national sandwich chain started with one location and now has 2,500 restaurants in more that a dozen countries. 

Simeus Foods International Inc. based in Mansfield, Texas was ranked in the top 25 among industrial services companies on the Black Enterprise list. LLCP invested $28 million in Simeus Foods International Inc. CEO and founder, Dumas M. Simeus, owned an equity stake in the custom food producer and wanted to increase his holdings. The partnership with LLCP allowed Dumas to buy out the other owners and significantly increase his personal stake in the company. Simeus Foods International Inc. is currently the largest minority owned and operated business in Texas. 

“The heart and soul of these businesses are the entrepreneurs. They have the ideas and the business vision to grow their companies. They are not interested in selling their businesses. We provide them with capital to help them achieve their goals,” said Lauren Leichtman co-founder of LLCP.

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners is a Beverly Hills, California based private investment firm that manages in excess of $1 billion of institutional capital. The firm makes structured equity investments in middle market companies with revenues between $50 million and $750 million that are headquartered in the Western United States. LLCP’s strategy is to provide capital to market leading companies owned and managed by entrepreneurs. Current investments range from $10 million to $75 million.