$45M | Acquisition of US quick-service restaurant chain

KitsWest Capital advised a Calgary-based Canadian acquirer on the $45M cross-border buy-side acquisition and financing of a US-based quick-service restaurant chain. The combined mandate paired buy-side M&A advisory with arrangement of cross-border acquisition financing, allowing the acquirer to run target evaluation, deal structuring, and lender sourcing in parallel. Cross-border QSR transactions require careful coordination across franchise system rules, multi-state regulatory considerations, and currency and tax structuring.

The mandate

The engagement covered target evaluation and valuation, quality of earnings analysis across the franchise system, deal and tax structuring with cross-border counsel, due diligence coordination across operations and unit economics, identification and engagement of qualified Canadian and US lenders with QSR and franchise system experience, term sheet negotiation, and execution through closing of both the share purchase and the acquisition financing facility. Financing was sized and structured to match unit-level cash flow and store roll-out plans.

Why this transaction represents our practice

This $45M cross-border acquisition is representative of the buy-side M&A advisor and debt and capital advisory work KitsWest performs for Canadian acquirers pursuing US and international targets in quick-service restaurants, multi-unit franchise systems, food and beverage, and adjacent consumer sectors. Cross-border mandates reward integrated advisory because deal structure, financing structure, and tax structure all interact, and decisions made in one workstream materially affect the others.