Charlesbank Capital Partners has announced the acquisition of Del Taco, the country’s second-largest Mexican quick-service restaurant chain, headquartered in Lake Forest, CA. Charlesbank co-led the transaction along with Grotech Capital Group and Leonard Green & Partners. The investment was made through Sagittarius Brands, which is the Nashville-based parent company for Captain’s D’s Seafood. Senior debt financing was underwritten by JP Morgan and Credit Suisse First Boston, with Goldman Sachs providing the subordinated debt financing. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1964, Del Taco has more than 460 quick-service restaurants in 13 states, primarily in the Western US. The menu offers Mexican items such as burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, as well as American fare such as burgers and fries. The Del Taco acquisition gives Sagittarius Brands more than 1,000 units across the United States and system-wide sales in excess of $1 billion annually.
Sagittarius Brands is led by veteran chain restaurant operators Sid Feltenstein and Ron Powell. Key members of senior management at Del Taco, including Shirlene Lopez, Don Stoops and Ron Petty, have all agreed to stay with the combined company.
“Del Taco has an outstanding management team that has led the brand to an exceptional track record of financial performance, including 15 years of consecutive same-store sales growth,” said Andrew Janower, managing director, Charlesbank Capital Partners. “We are pleased to add Del Taco to the Sagittarius family as we build a strong multi-brand quick-service restaurant company.”
“This acquisition is the perfect marriage of a company that has pioneered the seafood casual dining category with restaurants primarily in the South and Southeast and a company that is a pioneer in the Mexican food category mainly in the Western states. There will be significant personal growth opportunities for employees and franchisees of both restaurant systems and greater combined purchasing power for the emerging multi-brand organization, which will find its way to each concept’s bottom line,” said Ron Powell, Sagittarius president and CEO.
For more information on Captain D’s, visit www.captainds.com.
For more information on Del Taco, visit www.deltaco.com.
ABOUT CHARLESBANK CAPITAL PARTNERS
Based in Boston and New York, Charlesbank Capital Partners is a middle-market private equity investment firm managing more than $2 billion of capital. Charlesbank focuses on management-led buyouts and growth capital financings, typically investing $50 million to $150 million per transaction in companies with enterprise values of $100 million to $750 million. The firm seeks to partner with strong management teams to build companies with sustainable competitive advantages and excellent prospects for growth. Visit www.charlesbank.com for more information.