SYRACUSE N.Y. Carrols Restaurant Group Inc, the largest Burger King franchisee and owner-operator of the Taco Cabana and Pollo Tropical fast-casual brands, said Tuesday that two of its longtime institutional investors would sell all of their shares to a private-equity firm.
Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and BIB Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd. will sell more than 6.5 million shares, or 30.4 percent of Carrols’ common stock, to Jefferies Capital Partners. The deal is expected to close by July 2.
BIB Holdings acquired a controlling interest in Carrols in 1996, and Madison Dearborn bought its stake in the company the following year.
Alan Vituli, chairman and chief executive of Carrols, said the deal "fulfills the objectives of our two longstanding institutional shareholders, Madison Dearborn and BIB Holdings, to provide liquidity to their investors while giving Carrols Restaurant Group a new significant shareholder who has experience in the restaurant industry and who is very familiar with our company.”
According to its website, Jefferies Capital Partners has invested in such restaurant companies as Au Bon Pain, California Pizza Kitchen and Real Mex Restaurants.
Syracuse-based Carrols operates 316 Burger King units, 153 Taco Cabana restaurants and 90 Pollo Tropical locations.
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].