Mubadala Capital Acquires a Franchisee Operating 300 Taco Bell Restaurants

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Mubadala Capital, the Abu Dhabi-based asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, one of the world’s leading sovereign investors with US$243 billion of assets under management, announced the acquisition of K-MAC Enterprises from Lee Equity Partners Opportunities Fund. K-MAC is the second-largest franchisee for Taco Bell in the United States.

About Taco Bell

Taco Bell (link) is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants originating in California in 1962, by founder Glen Bell.

PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell in 1978, and later spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands.

Taco Bell rose to fame serving a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, that include: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos to name a few. In 2018, Taco Bell served over two billion customers worldwide!

About K-MAC

Founded in 1964, K-MAC has established a strong track record of growth through a combination of new store openings and strategic acquisitions.

Today, K-MAC operates over 300 Taco Bell restaurants, primarily located in the Midwestern and Southern United States and represents approximately 4% of the entire Taco Bell system, the industry leader in the Mexican quick service restaurant (QSR) space.

“The expertise of the management team at K-MAC is perfectly suited to capitalise on value creation opportunities that can be found within our existing portfolio of consumer and food services assets as well as our global network.” -Adib Martin Mattar, Head of Private Equity at Mubadala Capital.

“Mubadala Capital brings a unique network and new perspective to this partnership, and we are delighted to partner with an organisation that understands us as a management team, the value of operating excellence and the importance of our employees. This is an exciting time for our business as we seek to build upon a loyal customer base to drive value through increased use of technology and digital presence alongside our new partner, Mubadala Capital.” -Tina Reagan, Chief Operating Officer at K-MAC.

Mubadala Capital is well experienced in the Food and Beverage space, having invested approximately US$1.8 billion over the past seven years in this sector.

Recently, Mubadala Capital led a US$700 million investment round into REEF Technology. REEF is a US-based proximity-as-a-service platform enabling and accelerating the growth of the North American on-demand economy underpinned by food delivery with a portfolio that includes a number of leading QSR restaurant concepts in the United States. Mubadala Capital  plans to bring REEF services to the Middle East, as per Mattar.

The total value of the deal remains unknown.

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