Private Equity-owned Companies in Times Square 

701 7^th Ave.; 1606 Broadway; 1250 Avenue of the Americas

Private equity owner: MidOcean Partners

Owned by private equity since: January 2007

Deal value: $450 million

Employees: 5,140 (including 2,000 part-time)

Unlikely to ever rate a Michelin star for culinary quality, the reliable mid-market Sbarro nonetheless bills itself as the #1 “quick service Italian” restaurant chain in the US. As it filled the mid-sections of hungry Americans at its 1,000 locations in malls, airports, and other venues, Sbarro, founded in Brooklyn, was taken over for $450 million in January 2007 by MidOcean Partners, a New York buyout shop that specializes in “middle market” strategies. And though it’s hard to see how frontline Sbarro employees can support a family on the fair to middlin’ wages paid to workers in the quick service restaurant industry, MidOcean’s managers seem to be getting their fill. The buyout firm has $3 billion in assets under management and made $18 million in fees on the Sbarro deal, not including their annual $1 million management fee.