Guzman y Gomez has attracted a $134.5 million financing round, lifting the restaurant chain’s valuation to $1.725 billion.
Four major investment funds (Cooper Investors, Hyperion Asset Management, Firetrail Investments and QVG Capital) have joined the GYG shareholder register.
Existing investors including Athletic Ventures, Aware Super and TDM Growth Partners have boosted their
shareholding.
Investment will boost growth strategy
The proceeds of the raise will support GYG’s three-year growth strategy.
The latest Australian and overseas expansion plans were laid out at its 1H24 results.
At the time, GYG forecast a further 12 new restaurant openings (mostly drive-thrus) this year across Australia. Last year it recorded 21 restaurant openings, making it one of two frontrunners in Australian restaurant growth, according to GapMaps.
GYG is targeting 30 to 40 new restaurants per year over the long term.
Internationally the chain is taking a “considered and measured approach” it said in its 1H24 results.
At the end of 1H FY24, GYG operated 26 restaurants internationally with 17 restaurants in Singapore, five in Japan and four in the US. It intends to add three new restaurants in the greater Chicago area in 2024.
GYG found and team impress investors
Cooper Investors portfolio managers Justin O’Brien and Geoff Di Felice said their focus on culture, longterm outlook and their knowledge of the QSR industry attracted them to GYG.
“We did extensive analysis of GYG’s business, including sending our QSR expert to meet the GYG team in Chicago. Throughout this process the quality of founder Steven Marks and his team has shone through.
“Having analysed and invested in QSR businesses globally for over a decade, the Cooper Investors team believe GYG has all the hallmarks of success – a customer-obsessed culture combined with the systems and processes to deliver at scale.”
Mark Arnold and Jason Orthman, lead portfolio managers at Hyperion Asset Management, said the company has great potential to scale.
“Having successfully invested in the QSR space over many years, we are attracted to the company’s superior unit economics, underpinned by an innovative ‘fresh and fast’ consumer offering.
“GYG has a well-defined growth pathway which we anticipate will see it scale well beyond its current
footprint within Australia in the coming years. Over time, GYG has the potential to become a significant global business.”
GYG still has a possible IPO in its sights within the next 12 months.
This story was originally published on Franchise Executives.
