Kirkland Advises QDOBA on $305 million Whole Business Securitization
Kirkland & Ellis advised QDOBA Restaurant Corporation (“QDOBA”), the leading fast-casual Mexican restaurant franchisor and portfolio company of Butterfly Equity (“Butterfly”), on the closing of its inaugural $305 million whole business securitization through Qdoba Funding LLC. The transaction optimizes QDOBA’s capital structure for ongoing growth and provides meaningful interest expense savings. Proceeds from the transaction will be used primarily to refinance QDOBA’s existing senior debt facilities and provide liquidity to invest meaningfully in general corporate initiatives, including remodeling more than 80 corporate restaurants. Butterfly acquired QDOBA in 2022.
The Kirkland team was led by asset finance & securitization partners Janette McMahan and Jeffrey O’Connor; corporate partner Ravi Agarwal and associate Chrissy Pak; capital markets partners Ross Leff and Anthony Zangrillo; real estate partners John Thomas Goldman and Jacob Clark; and tax partner Benjamin Schreiner.
