Pacific Bells, one of the country’s largest Taco Bell operators, is changing hands.
The Vancouver, Wash.-based franchisee, which operates 250 locations in nine states, is being sold to the private equity firm Orangewood Partners, the company announced Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tom Cook, Pacific Bells’ founder and CEO, will retain a “significant minority stake” in the company.
Cook in a statement said the partnership with Orangewood, “a significant long-term investor,” will help Pacific Bells expand its portfolio and “create more growth opportunities” for employees.
Pacific Bells was founded in 1986 with a single location in Oregon. The private equity firm Partners Group bought the company in 2015, when it operated 86 locations. The company has tripled in size in the years since then.
Sujit John, managing director with Partners Group, said the company has grown through new acquisitions and technology that have improved delivery times and yielded sales growth, “ultimately leading to a great outcome for our clients.”
The sale comes at a time when valuations for fast-food chains, and particular Taco Bell locations, have taken off. Lenders at the Restaurant Finance and Development Conference this week noted that such restaurants can often go for up to 10 times EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Taco Bells are popular in part because the chain is the only nationwide Mexican fast-food chain. The operators are typically larger and own all the restaurants in a market, which makes them more desirable for investors targeting franchisees.
Alan Goldfarb, managing partner of Orangewood, called Pacific Bells “best-in-class operators” that “have built a tremendous platform in the quick-service industry over more than three decades.”
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