Pappas Seafood Co. Sold to Teamshares as Steve Pappas Plans Retirement

Pappas Seafood Co. has sold for an undisclosed price to Teamshares, a financial technology firm and holding company that acquires small businesses and transitions their ownership to workers. EIN Presswire reported the sale. The Baltimore crab cake company was founded by Mark Pappas, who opened the first Pappas Restaurant & Sports Bar in a former Parkville stag bar in 1972.

Pappas Seafood's Sale to Teamshares

Teamshares is a publicly traded firm headquartered in New York City. After purchasing a business, it grants employees a 10% stake, with a goal of eventually transitioning the majority of shares in any company it buys to its employees. Madhuri Kommareddi, its chief operating officer, said, "The profits of the business basically buy down the Teamshares stock and increase the employee stock." She said Teamshares aims for each business to be 80% employee-owned within 20 years, "but it really does vary depending on the company and its profitability."

Steve Pappas, Mark's son and the former owner, said the company had become unwieldy to manage. "We were five different corporations working in five different directions, and you know it became very overwhelming to me at points," he said. He also needed to find someone else to run the chain when he retires, and his children weren't interested. "You need a strong financial backing to survive the ups and downs," he said.

Teamshares will install a new president at Pappas and look for ways to boost profits, and it will look to improve consistency across each of Pappas' five locations, said Eric Braunstein, industry lead for food and beverage. "They have different French fries in each restaurant," Braunstein said. Pappas will remain involved in the restaurants' day-to-day operations and advise the new president until he retires, perhaps two years from now. His brother-in-law, Justin Windle, will stay on at the Cranbrook location, while his sister-in-law, Karen Zimmerer, will remain general manager of the Perry Hall location. Pappas will also continue to own the buildings at the Perry Hall and Parkville locations.

Pappas Restaurants' On The Border Liquidation

According to akta.pro company records, Pappas Restaurants acquired On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2025 for an undisclosed amount, expanding its Tex-Mex footprint. In June 2026, subsidiary OTB Hospitality filed for Chapter 7 liquidation and closed all company-owned On The Border locations, 13 months after the acquisition, while leaving core Pappas Restaurants operations unaffected. The same records show Pappas Restaurants operates 12 distinct concepts across more than 100 company-owned locations.

Pappas Restaurant Weeks and On The Border Deal

In May 2025, Pappas Restaurants acquired On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, closing that month, according to PR Newswire. The brand, founded in Dallas in 1982, has undergone a menu overhaul under Pappas ownership. In July 2026, Pappas Restaurants announced its inaugural Pappas Restaurant Weeks, a six-week dining event running from August 1 through September 7, 2026, across its portfolio of restaurant concepts, with proceeds donated to local food banks, PR Newswire reported.

Teamshares' Refinancing and Preferred Equity

On October 19, 2026, Teamshares repaid a $150 million legacy credit facility and took a $130 million four-year term loan maturing in the fourth quarter of 2030, according to Stock Titan. The loan carries a 9.5% floating-rate spread above SOFR and lowers annual interest expense by about $5 million. In September 2026, Teamshares closed a $225 million preferred equity investment from T. Rowe Price Investment Management, structured as Series A perpetual preferred stock, Investing.com reported.