Loading
TAMPA — Bella Petrella's Holdings Inc., a tomato sauce manufacturer that has struggled with capital issues, acquired two Tampa-based restaurant companies for a combined $3.7 million.
Philly Westshore Franchising Enterprises Inc. operates under a franchise model with 37 pizza and sandwich shops across the country, mostly in Florida and Ohio. Bella Petrella's paid $2.6 million to acquire Philly Westshore from Robert Vasaturo. The acquired firm had roughly $730,000 in 2010 revenues, a release says.
Bobby V's Original Westshore Pizza LLC, another Vasaturo family-owned enterprise, operates one pizza and sandwich restaurant in Tampa. Bella Petrella's paid $1.1 million for that company, which had $1.5 million in revenues in 2010.
Both transactions were financed through debt that is set to mature at the end of August in 2013. Bella Petrella's also purchased the 3,600-square-foot building leased to Bobby V's for an undisclosed price. John Whitman, the firm's CEO, could not be reached for comment on the deal prior to deadline.
Bella Petrella's has been struggling to acquire capital for more than a year. Last month, the company admitted that it “[does] not have sufficient capital to fund our plan of operations without debt or equity funding” in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last September, the company attempted to sell 3 million shares of its common stock in a private placement.
Joseph Petrella founded Tampa-based Bella Petrella's in 2009 as a producer of gourmet tomato-based sauces. Since its founding, it has been receiving small amounts of capital investment from JVW Entertainment, a separate entity owned by Bella CEO John Whitman.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
