Stamford, CT based Olympus Partners is pleased to announce that it has sold K-Mac Holdings Corp. K-Mac, headquartered in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, is the third largest Taco Bell franchisee in the country, operating 167 Taco Bells mainly in the Southwest. It also owns KFC and Golden Corral restaurants, which together with the Taco Bell stores total 190 stores.
Olympus and management acquired K-Mac and its 144 stores at the end of 2004. Since then, the company has opened and/or acquired 46 restaurants and has expanded geographically in several other states. Cash flow has more than doubled since 2004. Employment has increased by 30 percent.
Paul Rubin of Olympus Partners commented that “K-Mac has been one of the most successful investments for Olympus, earning a return of more than eight times the initial equity funded by our investors. We were fortunate to back a very talented and seasoned management team supported by the strength of the Taco Bell brand, at a time when few private equity firms were comfortable investing in the franchisee space.”
Founded in 1988, Olympus Partners is a Stamford, Conn.-based private equity firm focused on providing equity capital for middle market management buyouts and for companies needing capital for expansion. Olympus is an active, long-term investor across a broad range of industries, including healthcare services, financial services, consumer products, restaurants and business services.
Olympus manages in excess of $3 billion on behalf of corporate pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement programs.
Olympus was represented by John Schoenfeld and Roger Rhoten of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Lyle Wilpon, James Rourke, James Patterson, and Daniel Zarkowsky of Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised K-Mac and Olympus on the transaction.