Wichita-based Freddy’s burger chain once again has new owners
For the second time in four years, Wichita-founded Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers has new owners.
The chain, which was started in Wichita in 2002 by brothers Randy and the late Bill Simon and business partner Scott Redler, was recently acquired by investment funds affiliated with Rhône, a global private equity firm, from Thompson Street Capital Partners, a St. Louis, Missouri-based middle-market private equity firm. It purchased Freddy’s from Randy Simon and Redler in March 2021.
According to reporting by Reuters, which quoted two sources familiar with the sale, the price was around $700 million, including debt.
Freddy’s customers should not notice a difference, though, said a Freddy’s spokesperson on Friday. The new owner doesn’t plan to change the company’s executive team, which includes president and CEO Chris Dull. And the new Freddy’s headquarters at 3020 N. Cypress Drive, where the majority of the company’s corporate workforce is based, also will remain where it is. The headquarters moved there from Rock Road in June 2024 and added a Training and Innovation Center.
The Freddy’s brand now has more than 550 restaurants in the United States and Canada, which generated more than $1 billion in system-wide sales during the past year, according to a news release about the sale. The chain had around 400 locations when Simon and Redler sold in 2021.
Rhone was established in 1996 and focuses on investments in businesses that have a transatlantic presence. It has offices in London, New York, Madrid and Milan, and a news release about the sale quoted a Rhone managing director as saying that the firm wants to help bring Freddy’s to more customers around the world.
Rhone owned Brazilian restaurant chain Fogo de Chao from 2018 until 2023, when it sold it to Bain Capital for around $1.1 billion.
Freddy’s local founders held onto the restaurant chain for 18 years, and when they sold it, Randy Simon said he’d wanted to keep the company while his father, Freddy Simon — the restaurant’s namesake and unofficial spokesperson — was still alive. Freddy died in October 2020 at age 95.
The first Freddy’s opened at 21st and Tyler in Wichita in August 2002. At the time, Bill Simon and Redler were successful businessmen looking to branch out. Bill had built a career as a vice president of a company that franchised Pizza Hut, Rent-A-Center and other chains. Redler was an accomplished restaurateur who was involved in the development of many concepts. Randy Simon was longtime Pizza Hut and Panera franchisee who approached his brother and Redler about bringing frozen custard to Wichita, which led to development of Freddy’s.
Bill Simon died of cancer in 2016 at age 61. Redler worked for about a year as president of the Mokas Coffee and Eatery chain and now serves on its board as well as on several others. He’s also active with nonprofit organizations.
Randy Simon and Redler also still own the land and buildings that hold around 30 Freddy’s restaurants as well as the strip center at Ridge Road and Taft that is home to an Abeulo’s restaurant. Randy Simon also still owns four of the buildings that house local Panera restaurants and said that he also stays busy with philanthropic activities and spending time with his family and grandchildren.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM.
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