The Chicago owner of Gino’s East, Ed Debevic’s and Edwardo’s restaurant chains is among the parties considering a bid for Giordano’s, the Chicago-based deep-dish pizza chain that filed for bankruptcy in February.
Giordano’s Enterprises and its various properties will be sold as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. bankruptcy court. The bidding process has started, and Jeff Himmel, whose Chicago-based Bravo Restaurants Inc. already owns pizza-makers Gino’s East and Edwardo’s Natural Pizza as well as diner-themed Ed Debevic’s, is among those taking a look at Giordano’s, sources familiar with the matter said.
The chain is expected to be sold for at least $40 million. Its main creditor, Fifth Third Bank, is owed more than $45 million.
Other interested bidders include the Apostolou family, which owned Giordano’s when it went into bankruptcy court.
Family patriarch John Apostolou lost control of Giordano’s in bankruptcy after he fired his previous lawyer and struck up a relationship with Marshall Home, an Arizona man who made a claim that the bankruptcy trustee said was fraudulent.
John’s two sons, Bill and George, who own Chicago Giordano’s franchises that aren’t part of the bankruptcy, are heading the family’s bid, a family spokesman said. They have the backing of a Chicago-based equity partner and lender, said the spokesman, who declined to identify the financiers.
“They’re familiar with the employees and the business,” the spokesman said of the family. “They’re the obvious choice to continue running it, and they intend on keeping the business intact.”
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