FAST Acquisition Corp. CEOs on their SPAC IPO

Sandy Beall & Doug Jacob, FAST Acquisition Corp. co-CEOs, took their special purpose acquisition company public today. They tell Yahoo Finance what kind of company they might have their eyes on.

Video Transcript

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: All right, fast acquisition is making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange today at $10 a share. The SPAC, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company all the rage now, hopes to be the next category leader in the hospitality and restaurant industry. We've got the co-CEOs on the show with us now, two industry experts themselves, Sandy Beall and Doug Jacob. Good morning, gentlemen. Good to have you with us.

Sandy, I'm going to start with you, founder of Ruby Tuesday. Why do this now during a pandemic? Interesting time to be coming to market, and why do [INAUDIBLE] sway with this SPAC?

SANDY BEALL: The first part of that, why do it now? Because the pandemic has created a great opportunity, we think. COVID will actually help us, we believe. We're very, very, excited about the times and the opportunities. We think it's a great time to get into the fast casual, fast food-type segment. And what was the second question?

- Doug-- yes, Sandy. What was-- what is, in fact, the next big restaurant concept in life after COVID?

SANDY BEALL: Doug, do you want to take that one?

DOUG JACOBS: Yeah, sure. I mean, listen. We believe in concepts that have smaller dining rooms, alternative ways of getting the cuisine to the customers. So, you know, think drive-through, takeout third-party delivery. You know, we've got a lot of experience in, and also helping convert that to native delivery, et cetera. So we believe that the times are perfect for cheaper real estate, more available talent, smaller dining rooms, and they're seeing brands in this category doing well doing this time.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Could you give us an idea, Doug, of what brands that might be? What are some of the brands out there right now that look ripe to sort of check off all the boxes that you were just talking about?

DOUG JACOBS: Sure. So you're seeing brands like Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, performing quite well during this time. They've utilized technology, alternative ways of getting the cuisine, again, to the customer, so creating different drive-through, et cetera. So brands like that that, you know, have a value proposition but also have utilized technology, and brand, which we think is incredibly important as well, and, you know, concepts that have been a little bit more transparent with the customer as far as what they're serving them.

- Sandy, as someone who founded Ruby Tuesday, a place certainly, I know quite well growing up and eating there on a Friday and a Saturday with my family. How-- what's-- how will those sit-down eateries have to evolve in life after COVID? I imagine just the over-occupied restaurants, that will be very much a thing of the past, at least when you sit-- or you're sitting inside.

SANDY BEALL: I agree with that, and it's a real challenge for any sit-down restaurant, I believe, which is why we're focused on the concepts of very small dining rooms or no dining rooms. It'll be very, very tough for sit-down with the limited seating going forward and the changing consumer tastes and preferences, we believe, also.

ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: You know, Doug, SPACS have sort of had this mixed track record when you look at it in the restaurant business. I mean, Burger King certainly had success. Del Taco, but then you had CEC Entertainment and TGI Fridays. They were going to go public using this blank check way of doing things, and then those deals fell through. So why choose to do this as a SPAC?

DOUG JACOBS: Sure. So, you know, you mentioned concepts that Sandy just said that we're staying away from. So we're going to stay away from service, casual dining, you know, and cuisines and, you know, experiences that I don't think the customer is looking for anymore. So we're sticking to value, which, you know, does well during good and bad. Mentioned, you know, brands that we believe we can elevate from good to great, brands that have started to utilize technology, but with our management team, can get there quicker, and in a time when real estate is never going to be cheaper over the last 10 years.

So why now is because we've assembled a great group of operators that have all worked together. We mix that with, you know, fantastic ability to understand strategy and brand. And that combination is going to be lethal, we believe.

SANDY BEALL: We think we have deep experience in all the key areas to make a company, to take it from good to great like Doug was talking about.

- Doug, you've been around this industry long enough. Talk pretty extensively at the DNC this week about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. That is, in fact, happening in some places. But what would a across-the-board raise in the minimum wage due to the restaurant space?

DOUG JACOBS: Well, we think that for business models that can't handle it, it's going to hurt it. And so, you know, we're on the right side of history with taking care of customers and, I'm sorry, our staff. And that's something that we're going to look at with any concept that we, you know, that we combine with. So we think that it's going to be, you know, a tool for brands that are not ready for it, meaning, we can compete ahead of them. But with that being said, we're more focused on just taking care of our workforce. Because when you take care of your workforce, they care of your customer, and it's just the right thing to do.