Karali Group acquires 46 Taco Bell restaurants

Karali Group has become the UK’s largest Taco Bell operator after purchasing 46 Taco Bell restaurants from a single franchisee.

It comes after Begbies Traynor and FRP Advisory, the joint administrators of T Bello Group and T Bello UK (TBG), secured the sale through a pre-packaged administration process.

Under the transaction, the family-owned Karali Group, which operates franchises within the quick-service restaurant, casual dining and café sectors, saved 650 jobs.

Further terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The group was previously the biggest UK franchisee of Burger King before it exited all 74 sites in 2022.

A spokesperson for Begbies Traynor said: “Karali Group is first-rate operator and successful family-owned business with over four decades of experience in the quick-services restaurants and hospitality space.”

Commercial law firm Freeths and PwC advised Karali Group on the deal with Taco Bell.

Freeths also advised the group’s recent acquisition of Crosstown Doughnuts following the sale of the business to Karali Snacks last month.

US restaurant group Yum! Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, first tried to establish Taco Bell in the UK in the late 1980s, with three sites in London and one in Birmingham.

The restaurants were closed by the mid-1990s, but Yum! Brands relaunched the brand in the UK in 2010.

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