This week we saw two major acquisitions to close out the year, Freshii was acquired by franchisor Foodtastic and Rusty Taco was acquired by Gala Capital, sold off from Inspire Brands’ portfolio.
After closing dozens of restaurants over the past couple of years, struggling Canadian fast-casual chain Freshii is being acquired by restaurant franchisor Foodtastic for $2.30 per share or $74.4 million. The all-cash acquisition of the struggling healthy food concept is expected to help grow and improve the profitability of Freshii.
On the other hand, Dunkn’ and Sonic Drive-In parent company Inspire Brands announced Monday the sale of fast-casual brand Rusty Taco to Californian private investment firm Gala Capital Partners. The terms and price of the brand’s acquisition were not disclosed, though the Rusty Taco management team, including president Brendan Mauri, invested in the acquisition and will also stay onboard as part of the team.
Inspire Brands initially acquired a controlling interest in Rusty Taco in 2018 as part of its purchase of Buffalo Wild Wings and grew the brand 50% over the past four years.
Now let’s hear more from senior editor Joanna Fantozzi.