TGI Fridays' Creditors Sue Its Old Owners as Growth Restarts

Six point two million dollars in past-due royalties and guarantees, forgiven for $500,000. That is one allegation in a complaint filed Oct. 30 by Stephanie Wickouski, creditor trustee of the TGIF Creditor Trust, against former TGI Fridays owner TriArtisan Capital Advisors, founder Rohit Manocha, Anil Yadav and 14 other defendants in the chain's bankruptcy case, according to the docket summary from Bankruptcy Observer. Yadav held a significant interest in franchise locations, the complaint says.

The rest reads like a case study in borrowed money. The trustee alleges TriArtisan repaid roughly $180 million in acquisition debt within three years of its 2014 purchase by borrowing more and selling assets; that Manocha and Yadav took a $10 million personal loan at a low rate using Fridays assets as collateral, then lent $6 million back to the company at a higher one; and that the group derailed the 2024 reverse merger with U.K. franchisee Hostmore, Nation's Restaurant News reported. None of it has been tested in court, and NRN said it had asked TriArtisan for comment.

The decline it describes is not in dispute. Fridays closed roughly 80% of its locations between 2014 and 2025, and sales fell more than 82%, according to Technomic data cited by NRN. CEO Ray Blanchette, whose Sugarloaf Holdings bought the company out of bankruptcy, has called the TriArtisan years "a period of really bad private equity ownership."

Meanwhile, the brand is trying to sell franchises again. COO Ashley Kirkley told Franchise Times that two more domestic franchisees should be announced in the coming weeks, following the Bliss Bites deal for five New York restaurants, its first U.S. development agreement in a decade. The target is 50 to 75 domestic openings over three years, many in airports, hotels and smaller formats. The website lists 68 U.S. restaurants, down from 80 in January. "We're on a turnaround for the brand," Kirkley said. "We went through a few tough years, but we've learned from those."

I'd put this suit in front of anyone weighing the current wave of take-private offers. Every pitch promises patient capital. The Fridays complaint is what it can look like when the capital is impatient and the franchisees have no seat at the table.

Fridays says its next two U.S. franchisees are weeks away. The fight over its last decade will take a lot longer.