The One Group Taps Benihana CFO Nicole Thaung to Deliver $20M Synergies by 2026
Nicole Thaung becomes CFO of The One Group after its $365M Benihana acquisition, with a clear mandate to realize $20M in synergies by the end of 2026.
Photo by shraga kopstein on Unsplash
A CFO With Purpose
The One Group Hospitality’s latest leadership note carries a gentle firmness: a finance transition that is more than ceremony, timed to a transformation already in motion. In a Monday press release, the company named Nicole Thaung chief financial officer, succeeding Tyler Loy, who is leaving to pursue other opportunities. The move arrives on the heels of a $365 million acquisition of Benihana in 2024, and the language around it reads like a carefully prepared service plan—clear courses, measured timing, and a promise of follow-through. As CEO Emanuel Hilario put it, “Nicole’s expertise will be invaluable as we continue realizing the $20 million in expected synergies from this transformative acquisition, which now represents over 55% of our total revenues,” adding, “We remain on track to capture the full value of these synergies by the end of 2026.” The precision of those phrases sets an expectation: this is a CFO role defined by the cadence of integration and the texture of results, not just the close of books. Numbers here are not abstractions. They are signposts—$365 million, $20 million, over 55%, end of 2026—that guide how the next chapters will unfold. It is the kind of finance agenda that favors a steady hand and a welcoming insistence on discipline, inviting each brand into a shared rhythm while preserving what makes each dining room feel special.
Why This Leader
Thaung’s selection reads as both practical and quietly strategic. She previously served as chief financial officer of Benihana and spent over 15 years there, rising through leadership roles to become CFO in 2018. Before that, she spent over seven years as a manager at Ernst & Young. Most importantly for this moment, she was instrumental in integrating Benihana into The One Group after the 2024 acquisition. That arc—operator-side tenure, CFO stewardship, hands-on integration—turns the finance seat into a center of gravity for the next stage. There is a welcoming logic to placing someone who already knows Benihana’s systems, rhythms, and unit-level economics into the enterprise CFO role. It signals that the mechanics of integration will be built into the daily workings of the finance office rather than bolted on from the side. In warm, practical terms, it means the person measuring the pace of synergy realization also understands the back-of-house choreography and front-of-house momentum that make the numbers move. The implication is soothing in its clarity: a familiar steward at the helm when comfort and consistency are needed most.
Turning Finance Into Follow-Through
The remit around this appointment frames finance as the engine for operational follow-through. With the acquisition now representing over 55% of total revenues, the leadership transition positions Thaung to steer integration, performance measurement, and cross-brand discipline as the company advances toward capturing the full value of those synergies by the end of 2026. In practical terms, a $365 million platform becomes the vantage point for standardizing how the company tracks what is working, codifies it, and shares it across concepts. The company has tied the $20 million synergy target to disciplined integration rather than a one-time cost exercise, suggesting a focus on profitability, disciplined cost management, and commercial execution. While the specific line items behind the target are not detailed, the shape of the mandate suggests continuous benchmarking and an integrated scorecard that connects operating levers to enterprise outcomes. It’s the kind of gentle but firm structure that lets teams find their best rhythm: clear metrics, shared vocabulary, and a steady tempo that keeps everyone moving together toward the same table-setting by 2026.
Benihana’s Momentum, Plain And Steady
Benihana’s recent performance helps explain why the company wants its former CFO shaping the portfolio’s discipline. Same-store sales at Benihana were down 1.8% for 2024, yet this year’s first two quarters nudged upward—comps up 0.7% in Q1 and 0.4% in Q2. More telling is the operating line: Benihana’s restaurant operating profit grew to over $43 million during the first half of the year, more than double what it was in the year-ago period, and it currently leads the holding company’s concepts on that metric. That combination—a slight comps recovery alongside a sharp improvement in operating profit—creates room for a finance-led playbook that prioritizes profitability and consistency. If the enterprise aims to realize $20 million in expected synergies from the business that now accounts for over 55% of total revenues, Benihana’s numbers offer a way to measure progress: protect the drivers that lifted operating profit and then bring lagging units into closer step. It’s a soothing, practical idea: preserve the strong notes, tune the softer ones, and let the entire portfolio find a more even harmony.
Filling The Weekdays, Lifting The Weekends
The broader picture across The One Group sets both the opportunity and the task. Combined same-store sales were down 4.1% during the second quarter despite Benihana’s modest growth, an improvement from Q2 2024, when comparable sales were down 7%. Within the mix, grill concepts saw a 14.6% drop, the steepest decline among all categories. Leadership’s response emphasizes executional levers that customers can feel: “operational excellence, culinary innovation and relevant and timely marketing.” The company continues to see demand build on Fridays and Saturdays and has turned to value-focused programming, such as prix fixe menus, to entice guests during the week. It is also enhancing menus—adding Wagyu beef at Benihana met expectations—and plans to add new premium items across the portfolio. The operational message is straightforward and gently reassuring: use value to bring guests in during quieter weekdays, keep weekends efficient to embrace peak demand, and seed premium items to lift check and brand relevance. In the language of a welcoming dining room, it’s about making every seat feel considered, every moment intentional.
When Phrases Become Milestones
The public language around this transition reads like a quietly confident roadmap. The phrases “$20 million in expected synergies,” “over 55% of our total revenues,” and “end of 2026” anchor a timeline and scope that can be monitored. By insisting on “operational excellence, culinary innovation and relevant and timely marketing,” leadership places the tools of the dining room alongside back-of-house integration, treating synergy capture as a coordinated portfolio effort rather than a ledger-only exercise. This orientation pulls together what might otherwise feel like separate conversations. Stabilizing comps, narrowing the 14.6% decline in grill concepts, and consolidating systems and processes all sit on the same agenda. With Benihana delivering over $43 million in first-half operating profit and leading the portfolio on that metric, the CFO’s task becomes translating that strength into enterprise-level consistency without diluting what already works. It’s the comfort of a familiar recipe, carefully scaled up: keep the flavor, mind the portions, and serve steadily until the whole room reflects the same standard.
Gaps, And The Gentle Discipline Ahead
Several important details remain offstage. The company has not broken down the composition of the “$20 million in expected synergies,” leaving open the balance between cost efficiencies and revenue synergies. The cadence of actions needed to reach “the full value of these synergies by the end of 2026” is not enumerated. While weekday value menus and premium item additions are identified, there is no disclosed roadmap that ties these initiatives to specific comp or margin targets. Likewise, beyond noting a 14.6% drop in grill concepts, there is no category-by-category plan that explains how those units will be brought back in line. These gaps do not negate the strategy; they clarify what remains to be specified. For readers tracking execution, the measurable milestones are evident—comparable sales trends, operating profit progression, and the pace of integration. The mood here is patient and purposeful: keep the scoreboard clear, keep the service consistent, and let the proof accumulate in the numbers that matter most.
A Measured March To 2026
Taken together, the leadership change, Benihana’s operating momentum, and the company’s stated priorities outline a finance-centered operating model aimed at turning a $365 million acquisition into durable, portfolio-wide performance. The most credible part of that plan is already visible: modest same-store sales gains at Benihana paired with a restaurant operating profit that grew to over $43 million in the first half and leads the company’s concepts. The challenge is the dispersion in performance—combined comps down 4.1% in the second quarter and a 14.6% drop in grill concepts—that will test how well the integration rhythm travels across brands. Success will hinge on whether the CFO can keep the integration drumbeat steady while reinforcing tactics already in motion: weekday value programming, efficient weekend operations, and targeted premium menu innovation. The destination is explicit—“We remain on track to capture the full value of these synergies by the end of 2026.” The lesson is softly insistent: pair finance rigor with the kind of guest-facing touches that make a dining room feel welcoming, then let consistency do the quiet work of compounding. If the $20 million in expected synergies become visible across all concepts, not only in the flagship that now represents over 55% of total revenues, the portfolio will read like a thoughtfully set table—each concept distinct, all of them in harmony.