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A tale of two restaurant acquisitionsA tale of two restaurant acquisitions

Freshii and Rusty Taco were both acquired this week. Hear their different stories.

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

December 23, 2022

 

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.

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

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