Texas PE firms buy Rockfish restaurants

A consortium of Dallas- and Houston-based private equity investors, including Charter Private Equity, White Oak Capital Partners and Capital Point Partners, has acquired the casual dining restaurant chain, known for its fish tacos and shrimp dishes.

The Rockfish Seafood Grill restaurant chain has been acquired by a group of Texas-based private equity investors. Investors in the chain, acquired for an undisclosed sum, included Dallas-based Charter Private Equity, Dallas-based White Oak Capital Partners, Houston-based Capital Point Partners and individual investor, Henry Leonard. Leonard was appointed the restaurant chain’s new chief executive officer following the deal.

Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, Rockfish is a casual dining restaurant chain with 14 restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, as well in Houston, Lubbock and Durham, North Carolina. The chain is known for its fish tacos, shrimp basket and Mexican shrimp martini.

Charter Private Equity is a unit of Charter Holdings, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm headed by Ray Washburne. White Oak Capital Partners was founded in 1987 by Joseph Longino Jr. as a middle market merchant banking and private equity firm. Houston-based investment management firm Capital Point Partners provides mezzanine financing to middle market companies in the US. The firm’s investments include buyouts, recapitalizations and refinancings, mergers and acquisitions and growth/expansions.