Interior of a Barcelona restaurant owned by restaurant company Barteca Source: Barteca

Del Frisco's Restaurant Group, known for its upscale steakhouses, told CNBC it will acquire Barteca Restaurant Group for $325 million in cash in a bid to expand its footprint and balance its portfolio. The deal announced Monday represents a calculated move by Del Frisco's, which owns Del Frisco's Grill, Del Frisco's Double Eagle and Sullivan's Steak House, to grow in scale and reach new customers. It's a big step for a company with a market cap of $344.8 million. Barteca is a 20-year-old company with two brands, Barcelona, an upscale casual dining restaurant that specializes in Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine, and Bartaco, which features a menu of "upscale street food" with bold South American, Mediterranean and Asian flavors. (source: Barteca) Both restaurants are known for wine, small plates and a comfortable, yet stylish atmosphere inspired by tapas bars in Spain and the beach culture of South America and Southern California. These brands offer more than just a unique dining experience and locally sourced ingredients: They have small footprints, which make them ideal for placement in high-traffic urban areas where rent is inflated and large spaces are hard to find.

Growing its urban footprint

"We've been looking for growth concepts, not maintenance concepts," Del Frisco's CEO Norman Abdallah told CNBC. "They have to have proven growth." Barteca has been methodically expanding its number of restaurants over the last 20 years and currently has 15 Barcelona locations and 16 Bartaco locations. Abdallah expects over time the company would be able to open 50 to 100 Barcelona restaurants in the U.S. and 200 to 300 Bartacos. Del Frisco's is expecting unit growth over the next five years to be 10 to 12 percent for all of its restaurant brands. Del Frisco's has 25 Del Frisco's Grill locations, 13 Double Eagle locations and 15 Sullivan's steakhouses, predominantly situated in the major cities in the Northeast. Barcelona and Barteca restaurants are smaller in size than Del Frisco's current brands. At about 4,500 to 5,000 square feet, they are dwarfed by Del Frisco's 14,000- to 17,000-square-foot steakhouses. (source: Barteca) While Barteca has been slow to grow its number of locations, its restaurants have a proven track record of strong sales. Barcelona has had positive same-store sales growth for 20 straight years and Bartaco has had mid-single to low double-digit same-store sales growth for the four years that it has been open. In the first quarter ended April 3, Barcelona saw same-store sales grow 1.7 percent, while Bartaco saw growth of 2.6 percent. Abdallah expects these sales trends to continue after the acquisition.

Broadening its horizons