Patels buy Yum! brands restaurants in Kansas

Taco Bell, 33 KFC, and Long John Silver's restaurants in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma have been bought by Chalak Mitra Group LLC.

The restaurants will be run by Manish Patel and Pushpak Patel, current Yum, franchisees and part of the Chalak group. The group, an affiliate of Dallas-based Chalak group inc., declined to disclose the purchase price for the Yum! Brands Inc. restaurants.

The cash purchase from Missouri company table rock restaurants includes 22 restaurants in Missouri, four in Kansas, three in Oklahoma and one in Illinois. One KFC/Taco Bell restaurant is in Gardner.

"For us to have Manish and Pushpak operating this division, it's a tremendous competitive advantage," said, Chalak Group CEO Al Bhakta in a release.

"They are existing operators in the Yum system and bring specific skills and experiences to the business. As entrepreneurs our goals are the same - to create enterprise value by growing and developing the business."

Experienced as owners, operators and franchisers, the Chalak group holds 56-unit fast-causal chain Genghis Grill-The Mongolian Stir Fry, which has a location in the Kansas City power & light district. The group had partnered with the Patels to unveil their first KFC and Taco Bell location in Anna, Texas.

The focus of the Patels as usual will be on growth within the Yum! System; turning Genghis Grill into a national brand will be what Bhatka's team will be working on.

With both wanting to grow in the restaurant industry, the deal has presented them with an ideal opportunity to expand, commented, Ron Parikh, a principal of the Chalak group. "This is a big opportunity for us," he said, adding that the company is always open to more. "As long as we have good operators, we're open to any part of the country."