Audrain Hospitality Group continues investing in Newport's restaurant industry. The latest
Audrain Hospitality appears to be dipping its toes into the back end of Newport’s restaurant industry, as the people behind the group have recently acquired one of Aquidneck Island’s largest wholesale seafood dealers: Newport Lobster Company.
Bellevue Asset Management, which is the current fictitious name for Bellevue Capital Partners, is the business investment company behind Audrain Hospitality Group, which itself owns a large collection of Newport-based restaurants and establishments, such as La Forge Casino Restaurant, Wally’s Wieners, La Costa Lobster Rolls and Tacos, Cluck Truck, Newport Craft Brewery and Distilling Company and the hotel Hilltop Inn. Through Audrain, the company also owns Audrain Automobile Museum, Audrain Motorsport Club and Audrain Park Place.
The company and its parent company, AR Global Investments, are owned by Nicholas Schorsch, an entrepreneur and investor who is well-known in the financial services industry for founding several commercial real estate investment firms. His son, Nicholas Schorsch Jr. works as the chief operating officer for AR Global.
BCP announced its acquisition of Newport Lobster Company in November. This is the first wholesale, non-customer-facing restaurant industry business BCP has acquired, Schorsch said
“These types of businesses that really underpin the core of American business, nuts and bolts literally kinds of businesses, are things that we have a lot of experience in historically and we find really interesting, and they are also what underpin a lot of what goes on on Aquidneck Island and in Rhode Island,” Schorsch Jr. said.
Newport Lobster Company, which has been in business since January 2000. Despite the company’s limited public-facing presence on the island and online, BCP’s general counsel Michael Anderson said most, if not all, of Newport’s restaurants source at least some of their seafood from the Middletown-based dealer.
“In terms of volume of business, they’re one of the largest in the area in terms of both lobster and seafood wholesalers,” Schorsch said. “It was surprising to us when we started looking into the business just how large of a reach and how much business they’re doing on the island.”
The company also sells lobster and seafood to places in Providence and Boston. Schorsch said the company plans to keep the staff, including founder Kenny Haslam, as a part of Newport Lobster Company as BCP starts to invest capital and time into the company.
In the press release announcing the acquisition by Bellevue Asset Management, Newport Lobster Company Founder Kenny Haslam said that his company was impressed with Bellevue Asset Management’s attention to them and the businesses and organizations they serve.
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"Since we started over twenty years ago, we have focused on the needs of our customers," Newport Lobster Company Founder Kenneth Haslam said in a press release regarding the acquisition. "We know that quick, responsive service and high-quality, fresh products are always in the best interest of our clients and their customers. Our focus on these facts has allowed us to help our New England communities thrive as destinations locals and tourists alike flock to when they want the real, local, and, most of all, fresh delicacies our oceans are known for. Bellevue and Newport Lobster Company share the same vision.”
While Schorsch said they are unable to share whether the company has any plans to acquire other wholesale or restaurant industry-facing companies, Schorsch said they "will always be interested in additional acquisitions," of companies all along the supply chain that reflect their investment interests in "heritage businesses," meaning older businesses in long-standing industries like hospitality.
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Audrain Hospitality Group behind Newport Lobster Company purchase
