Kirkland Represents Butterfly and Modern Restaurant Concepts on Acquisition of QDOBA and Formation of Leading Fast Casual Restaurant Platform

Kirkland & Ellis advised Butterfly, a Los Angeles, California-based private equity firm specializing in the food sector, and its portfolio company, Modern Restaurant Concepts, on Butterfly’s acquisition of QDOBA, the No. 2 player and No. 1 franchisor in the Mexican fast casual restaurant sector in North America, from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo. Following the transaction, Qdoba will join MRC's industry-leading “better-for-you” fast casual restaurant platform currently consisting of two brands, Modern Market Eatery and Lemonade. As part of the transaction, King Street Capital Management, a leading global alternative asset manager, is investing alongside Butterfly. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2022.   

Read the Butterfly press release   

The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Ravi Agarwal and Christopher Burwell and associates Tonna Onyendu and Chrissy Pak, debt finance partners Ben Steadman and Melissa Hutson, and tax partner Benjamin Schreiner, with support from corporate partner Sean Rodgers.