Want a hamburger chain? Krystal is for sale

The Krystal Co., the oldest fast-food chain in the South and the second oldest in the U.S., is trying to find a buyer for the restaurant company.

Chattanooga-based Krystal has hired Credit-Suisse First Boston Group to help market the 74-year-old privately held company to potential buyers, officials said Tuesday.

Company spokesman Brian Cooley said in a statement that Krystal “is currently providing information” to interested parties.

“We are still in the preliminary stages of the process and cannot comment further at this time,” he said.

The chain has been owned for the past decade by a group of Tennessee investors, who took the company private in a $108 million buyout in 1997 but now want to capitalize on a strong market for restaurants.

Krystal has restaurants in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.