Swisshelm companies sell 24 area Burger King stores

Swisshelm Group Inc., Swisshelm Family LP and Point Guard Enterprises, all founded by Springfield restaurateurs Bruce Swisshelm and Bruce Swisshelm Jr., on March 2 completed a sale of 24 Burger King locations. The stores are spread across southwest Missouri, eastern Kansas and northern Arkansas, according to the Bill Beall Co. brokers that represented the Swisshelm companies in the deal.

Duke and King Acquisition Co., a holding company for New Jersey-based Kinderhook Industries that operates more than 110 Burger King stores in eight states, purchased the 24 stores for between $15 million and $20 million, broker Bill Beall said.

At its peak, Swisshelm’s Burger King stores had about 750 employees; they currently employ about 550. Swisshelm Group officials were unavailable for comment before press time.

While the Swisshelm companies may have divested their Burger King holdings, Swisshelm Group is not getting out of the restaurant business. The group in January announced plans for three Macaroni Grill locations, the first of which is slated to open at an undetermined location in Springfield later this year. Swisshelm Group also owns two McAlister’s Deli locations in Jacksonville, Fla.

Duke and King is a relative newcomer to the fast-food holdings business. According to a report from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Duke and King completed a deal Nov. 1 to purchase 88 of the 89 Burger King locations of Bloomington, Minn.-based Nath Cos. Inc. Those restaurants, which mark the company’s first foray into restaurant business, are located in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Florida.

Representatives for Kinderhook and for Duke and King did not return calls by press time.