One of Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp.’s largest franchisees in the U.S. has been acquired by the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co.
Mubadala Capital bought Fort Smith, Ark.-based K-MAC Enterprises, which has more than 300 Taco Bells in its fold, from Lee Equity Partners Opportunities Fund. Mubadala went in with management of K-MAC to acquire the business.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
K-MAC, which was started in 1964 by Ken McGruder, operates Taco Bells mostly in the Midwest and South. Its portfolio represents about 40% of Taco Bell’s chain in the U.S.
The deal will help as K-MAC continues to ramp its use of technology and digital, COO Tina Reagan said in a statement announcing the deal.
Mubadala, along with SoftBank Vision Fund, recently led a $700 million investment round in November of Miami-based Reef Technology Inc., a company that repurposes parking lots for ghost kitchens to help restaurant operators with off-premise orders.Â
Lake Forest-based Del Taco Restaurants Inc. (Nasdaq: TACO) was the most recent operator to say it inked a deal with Reef to help with digital order fulfillment.
