in august 2007, the then-publicly traded company was purchased for us$38 million by a group of investors led by c. stephen lynn, the former chairman of shoney's, who also previously served as sonic's chief executive officer, and reid m. zeising of cherokee advisors. a significant aspect of the purchase was relocation of the company's corporate headquarters from memphis to nashville. in february 2009, zeisling resigned as executive chairman of the board.