New England Capital Partners, which bought Massachusetts-based Brigham's for undisclosed terms, hopes to take Brigham's ice cream into new sales channels. To do so, it's bringing in a new management team, led by Charles Green, who served as a senior executive at Unilever Ice Cream, Ben & Jerry's and others.

Brigham's has 15 restaurants and ice cream shops in Eastern Massachusetts. Kevin McCafferty, chairman of New England Capital Partners, says Brigham's has plenty of room for growth, though not necessarily in traditional restaurant locations, where competition with larger casual dining eateries is stiff.

"There are new channels of distribution that have not been exploited," McCafferty said. "They don't participate in the food service environment, like universities or sporting arenas. We think there's plenty of opportunities for those kinds of things."

Brigham's will remain headquartered in Arlington, Mass.