Hamra Enterprises buys 25 Wendy's stores in Chicago area

Hamra Enterprises said Tuesday that it bought 25 Wendy's restaurants in the Chicago area from Wendy's International. The deal gives Hamra 90 Wendy's restaurants in four states.

Hamra Enterprises says Wendy's International has been selling stores to try to reach a goal of owning only 315 stores, or about 5 percent of the total number of Wendy's restaurants. The stores in the deal announced on Tuesday are in the north and central parts of the greater Chicago market.

Hamra Enterprises, which is based in Springfield, became a Wendy's franchisee in 1976. It now owns 35 Wendy's restaurants in Missouri, 30 in Massachusetts and New Hampshire that it bought in 2015, and 25 in Illinois. It also is a franchisee of Panera Bread restaurants in the Boston and Chicago areas; Noodles and Company restaurants in Missouri and New England; and one Holiday Inn Express hotel in Texas.

"This acquisition provides us an exciting opportunity to grow the Wendy’s brand in a thriving market such as Chicago,”

Mike Hamra, president and chief executive officer of Hamra Enterprise, said in a news release.