Lexington, KY - A&W Restaurants, which is set to be acquired from Yum Brands by A Great American Brand, will return to Lexington, creating 30 jobs and a nearly $1.9 million investment.
"Long John Silver's (which as also sold by Yum) and A&W Restaurants could have located their global headquarters anywhere, but chose to remain Kentuckians. This speaks volumes about the strong, cooperative partnership that exists between the state, Lexington and Louisville officials and our existing business community," Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said in a press release.
To encourage both companies to keep the headquarters operations in Kentucky, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved LJS Partners, the new owners of Long John's and A Great American Brand for tax incentives up to $1.5 million and $600,000, respectively, through the Kentucky Business Investment Program. The performance-based incentive can be earned over the term of the agreements through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting specific job and wage targets.
With a history that dates back to 1919, A&W Root Beer is still the number one selling root beer, mixed daily at hundreds of A&W restaurants. The company was once part of Yorkshire Brands, which was located in Lexington in the 1990's.
"A Great American Brand is happy to be bringing A&W Restaurants back home to Lexington," said Kevin Bazner, CEO for A Great American Brand LLC. "Our executive team evaluated several other cities for the headquarters, but the support offered by Commerce Lexington's economic development team, the city of Lexington, and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development brought Lexington to the top of the list. We're proud that Lexington will be home to our global headquarter operations."
The release did not state when the move would occur, but the final sale of A&W to A Great American Brand is still pending.