History

Prime’s size and success arose from many connections.

The Sudbury Connection

In 1979, three entrepreneurs from Sudbury, Ontario joined forces to open in early 1980 the first Casey's Restaurant in their hometown. It was small and unrefined (by our current standards), but a smashing success, and a second, equally successful Casey's Restaurant followed in Elliot Lake.

These founders soon moved south and set up shop in Burlington, Ontario with a fourth partner. There, they expanded the Casey's business, and developed other brands, through their company Yesac Creative Foods Inc. ("Yesac" being "Casey" spelled backwards). The first Pat and Mario's Restaurant was built in Whitby, Ontario in 1982 as an opportunity to establish a take-out-only pizza and pasta business. It became a successful restaurant, and a second Pat and Mario's Restaurant was soon established in North York, Ontario.

We built several Pat and Mario's Restaurants in Florida, and soon developed a distinctive modification at Aventura Mall, Miami - the first East Side Mario's Restaurant. The East Side Mario's brand was soon thereafter successfully imported into Canada.

By 1988, it became clear that the Casey's, Pat and Mario's, and East Side Mario's brands would need a significant capital infusion to proliferate, and that with capital it would be possible to develop restaurant brands with great potential. That's when the Toronto connection entered the play.

In the Meantime — The Toronto Connection

A Toronto-based operator of contemporary diner-style restaurants had opened its first Lime Rickey's Restaurant in 1985 in Thornhill, Ontario. Shortly thereafter, three more Lime Rickey's Restaurants opened for business (including one in the prestigious Toronto Eaton Centre). Although initially very successful, times change. All Lime Rickey's restaurants closed when their leases expired.

And — The Montréal Connection

The Charles Bronfman organisation of Montréal (via The Charles Rosner Bronfman Family Trust) acquired a majority interest in the Lime Rickey's company in 1986.

Marrying the Connections

The Lime Rickey's company formed Prime to acquire the Casey's, East Side Mario's, and Pat and Mario's franchising systems and key employees of those businesses in August 1989. Since then, Prime has become a major force in the Canadian casual theme restaurant industry.

The Sale of East Side Mario's

By 1993, Prime had expanded the East Side Mario's brand into the United States through an American subsidiary. Its potential was so great that several suitors proposed to purchase Prime, or the East Side Mario's brand. After many months of negotiation, Pizza Hut, Inc. (itself then a subsidiary of Pepsico), of Wichita, Kansas purchased our American subsidiary (Prime Restaurant Systems of America Inc.). It granted to Prime the exclusive Canadian master license rights to the East Side Mario's, and Pat and Mario's trade-marks and related systems.

The American East Side Mario's Company - 1993 to 2000

The owner and American Franchisor of the East Side Mario's brand from December 1993 to September 1, 2000 was East Side Mario's Restaurants, Inc. (formerly, Prime Restaurant Systems of America Inc.). Pizza Hut, Inc., in turn, sold that company to California-based Marie Callender Pie Shops, Inc. in early 1997. But see "Reuniting the Brand" below; we bought the trade-marks back in 2000!

Vive Le Québec Division

In 1992, Prime established its first Québec restaurant (East Side Mario's) in Brossard. Today, there are many East Side Mario's and also Casey's restaurants in La Belle Province.

The Pub Connection - Cheers!

In 1996, Prime formed a joint venture with other restaurateurs (including one of the three Sudbury founders of the Casey's, Pat and Mario's, and East Side Mario's systems) to establish Irish Pubs under a variety of distinctive names. The first such Irish Pub (called Sláinte) opened in Hamilton, Ontario in November 1996. The interior of Sláinte was designed and built in Ireland, shipped across the ocean and assembled on-site. This division of Prime has opened several more Irish Pubs since then operated under various banners such as Fionn MacCool's, D'Arcy McGee's, Tir nan Óg and Paddy Flaherty's.

In 1999, the Pub division opened an exciting new brand - Bier Markt - [that's not a typo!] -- in down-town Toronto on The Esplanade. Here, you will find a huge (yes - huge) variety of imported beers and up-scale Belgian foods, all in an inviting, casual (yet sophisticated) environment. We had yet another hit on our hands!

In February 2002, Prime acquired the interest of the minority in the pub division - and made the minority owners part of our management.

We opened our second Bier Markt on King Street West in Toronto in August 2009, our third at Shops at Don Mills in 2011, and are looking at other locations for this very popular concept. We also sold the Sláinte trade-mark in July 2009 to the owner of that pub since we will not be proliferating pubs using that name.

Unused Brands

We opened the first Red Devil Barbeque and Grill restaurant in Newmarket, Ontario, in February 1997. More were built, but most Red Devil Barbeque and Grill restaurants have been converted to Casey's or East Side Mario's restaurants, and one was removed from Prime’s system entirely in 2004. We do not have any current intentions to re-launch the Red Devil brand.

By the mid 1990's, the number of Pat and Mario's restaurants had been reduced to a handful, and by late 2007 there was only one open in Sudbury, Ontario. As of December 31, 2011, we mutually cancelled the Franchise for the Sudbury Pat and Mario's, and allowed the owners to continue to use the trade-mark.

Management Buy-Out

In February 2000, senior management of Prime acquired full ownership with the acquisition of all of the shares from The Charles Rosner Bronfman Family Trust of Montréal.

Parting with the Bronfman organisation was both sweet and sad. We couldn't have designed a better majority owner; they provided best-in-the-world business advice. At the same time, however, management gained full ownership and control over the company's destiny - and that did feel good! We became financially strong, with a capable and committed management team.

Reuniting the Brand

Effective September 1, 2000, Prime reunited the East Side Mario's brand by acquiring the world-wide trade-mark rights from East Side Mario's Restaurants, Inc. (our former subsidiary that we had sold to Pizza Hut, Inc. in 1997).

The Public Connection

On July 22, 2002, we made yet another connection -- this time with public investors. The Prime Restaurants Royalty Income Fund -- listed on the TSX (with the appropriate symbol EAT.UN) -- allowed investors to participate in our success. See below about our 2010 combination.

Pubs USA

In December 2006, Prime, through its American subsidiary, entered into a joint venture with Fransmart, LLC. (of Alexandria, Virginia and Newport Beach, California), forming Prime Pubs of America, LLC to franchise certain of Prime's Irish Pub Brands across America. In December 2010 we purchased all of Prime Pubs of America, LLC, and are looking forward to bringing more of our wonderful Irish Pub Brands to our friends south of the border.

The 2010 Combination

The government's change to taxes for income trusts, and the recent recession, encouraged us to make a change that would benefit our public unit-holders of the Prime Restaurants Royalty Income Fund. A special committee was established to examine alternatives, and, with the help of recognized experts, we decided to perform a corporate reorganization resulting in Prime - now called Prime Restaurants Inc. - being a publicly-traded company listed on the TSX (EAT) in April 2010. This resulted in the public unit holders of the Fund owning about 75% of Prime, and Prime's management owning about 25% through Prime Restaurant Holdings Inc.

Fairfax

In the summer of 2011, Cara Operations Limited proposed to purchase Prime, but later that year Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited of Toronto offered a higher price per share, and the public shareholders approved the Fairfax offer. By way of a plan of arrangement effective January 10, 2012, Prime became a private company owned approximately 82% by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfax (794883 Canada Inc.) – another wonderful connection. The other approximately 18% of the shares are owned by three members of senior management.

We have a Plan

Prime will continue to expand in the future. If we aren't in your community yet - we probably will be there soon. Watch for us. We want to make connections with you!