Palladium Equity Partners completes acquisition of Taco Bueno
Palladium Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in New York, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of TB Corporation, parent of the Taco Bueno restaurant chain, from Jacobson Partners, a private equity firm based in New York. Taco Bueno is a premium quality, quick service restaurant chain offering Mexican food in locations in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
August 9, 2005
NEW YORK, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Palladium Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in New York, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of TB Corporation, parent of the Taco Bueno restaurant chain, from Jacobson Partners, a private equity firm based in New York. Taco Bueno is a premium quality, quick service restaurant chain offering Mexican food in locations in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Palladium also announced that it has named John Miller as Taco Bueno's new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Miller was most recently President of Brinker International's Romano's Macaroni Grill concept and, earlier in his career, served as a Vice President of Operations for Taco Bueno. Mr. Miller replaces Stephen Clark, who is remaining with Jacobson Partners, as CEO of Bertucci's Italian restaurants. "We are pleased to announce both the successful completion of Palladium's acquisition of Taco Bueno and the appointment of John Miller as Taco Bueno's new Chief Executive Officer," said Peter A. Joseph, Managing Director of Palladium Equity Partners. "Taco Bueno's patrons have long enjoyed the fresh authenticity of its food and the convenience of its service. With the widespread popularity of Hispanic flavors and cuisine, our priority now is to build on Taco Bueno's rich heritage and its strong management team by expanding in both current and new markets. A seasoned executive with over 25 years of foodservice experience who began his career in operations at Taco Bueno, John Miller is extremely well qualified to lead this initiative, and we welcome him to our team," Mr. Joseph concluded. John Miller, 50, most recently served as President of Romano's Macaroni Grill, where he oversaw the growth of the chain from 99 restaurants to over 220 restaurants in four countries. In his seven years as President, Mr. Miller significantly increased both revenues and profits at the concept and substantially expanded its development program. Mr. Miller began his foodservice career in 1974 at Taco Bueno, starting as an assistant manager in Tulsa and assuming positions of growing responsibility in area and regional positions over the next thirteen years. When he left Taco Bueno in 1987, Mr. Miller was Vice President of Operations in charge of 128 restaurants. Mr. Miller's efforts at Taco Bueno were instrumental in establishing its growth and prominence as a regional market share leader. He joined Brinker in September 1987 as Vice President Special Concepts, and was subsequently named Vice President, Joint Venture/Franchise Department in November of 1988. In that role, Mr. Miller was responsible for global franchise development of the Chili's Grill & Bar concept. From 1994 through 1997, Mr. Miller served as President Mexican Concepts, acquiring and integrating the On the Border restaurant concept into Brinker, and led planning for its repositioning, strategic direction, performance and growth. Mr. Miller was made President of Romano's Macaroni Grill in 1997. Founded in 1967 and based in Dallas, Taco Bueno (http://www.tacobueno.com) is an established market leader in the Mexican Quick Serve restaurant segment, distinguished by the high quality and freshness of its food, speed and convenience of its service, and reputation for consumer value. With 139 restaurants in three states, operations are currently clustered in Taco Bueno's primary markets of Dallas/Ft. Worth, Abilene, Texas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Additional restaurants are located in several other Texas cities and Wichita, Kansas. Taco Bueno's revenues for 2004 were approximately $140 million. Palladium Equity Partners (http://www.palladiumequity.com), based in New York, is a private equity firm focusing investments in middle market companies. Formed in 1997, Palladium currently has committed equity capital in excess of $650 million. Palladium considers investments across a range of industries and target markets and has a particular focus on companies that are well-positioned to capitalize on the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic market. The principals have invested almost $1 billion of equity in 29 portfolio companies over the last two decades. SOURCE Palladium Equity Partners
