Dive Brief:
- Qdoba has completed a $435 million whole business securitization, which includes $360 million in senior notes and a $75 million variable funding note through Qdoba Funding, the company said in a Wednesday press release.
- The chain will use proceeds from the transaction to refinance existing debt at a reduced cost of capital and improve its liquidity, according to the press release. The additional liquidity will support ongoing investment in the chain’s growth plan, which has a 2,000 unit target, as well as restaurant remodels, digital makelines and other technology initiatives.
- The transaction comes less than a year after the chain secured a $527 million continuation fund, which was led by Apollo S3, a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management. Apollo owned Qdoba until Butterfly Equity acquired it in 2022.
Dive Insight:
Qdoba is well on its way toward 2,000 units, with 860 units open across 45 states in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and South Korea, and a pipeline of more than 650 stores, per the press release. In the U.S. the chain had 827 mostly franchised units at the end of 2025, according to a franchise disclosure document. Since 2023, the chain has opened a net of 94 stores in the U.S.
“QDOBA has built tremendous momentum, supported by a differentiated brand, scalable franchise model, and the hard work of [CEO] John [Cywinski] and the entire QDOBA team,” Francesco D’Arcangelo, managing director at Butterfly, said in a statement. “This transaction marks an exciting milestone for the business and provides additional flexibility to accelerate QDOBA’s next phase of growth.”
In addition to its development pipeline, Qdoba is also attracting large franchisees. Earlier this year, Doherty Enterprises, a large Applebee’s franchisee, signed a deal to develop 27 Qdoba restaurants in New York and New Jersey. Qdoba has focused on building up its franchised system to differentiate itself from its closest competitor, Chipotle, which is company-owned.
