Unbridled Capital recently provided sell-side advisory to Dan Lewis and his family on the sale of 3 Taco Bell restaurants in Lodi, California. The restaurants were sold to existing franchisees Dave Engen and Brent Flynn of Engen Ventures, Inc.
Dan’s father Fred Lewis started in the retail business in Burbank, CA as a gas station owner, where he met Burt Baskin and Irv Robins. He quickly became a Baskin & Robins franchisee in San Bernardino 1956, where he opened the 30th store in the system. Mrs. Lewis loved Mexican food, and they would frequent one of Glenn Bell’s pre-Taco Bell Mexican restaurants in San Bernardino. They met Glenn at a 1965 Franchising Convention in the area and became Taco Bell franchisees in 1967. Dan joined the business in 1975, and by 1987, the Taco Bell in Lodi had the 2nd highest sales in the entire system. They opened two other stores in 1993 and 2000. In 2005, daughter Carrie came to work in the family business as an Above Store Leader. In 2013, son Mark began working for his father, serving as Director of Operations. In 2018, one of their Taco Bell locations was ranked #1 in the country in VOC scores.
“My experience with Rick Ormsby and his team at Unbridled was very pleasurable. I was impressed with their knowledge to walk me through this process, and the Unbridled team modeled integrity throughout the transaction. I would highly recommend them,” said Dan Lewis.
“It goes without saying that the Lewis family has had a tremendous legacy within the Taco Bell brand for 52 years. After working with hundreds of clients, I can honestly say that I have met very few people who I respect more than Dan Lewis. He is a successful businessman who does it the right way – with humility, kindness and a genuine care for other people. It was an honor to help Dan and his family through this exciting and emotional time. We wish them many blessings as they enter a new phase of their lives, and we also congratulate Dave Engen, Brent Flynn and the entire Engen Ventures organization on a successful closing,” said Rick Ormsby, Managing Director.
As a condition of this closing, Unbridled Capital will make a charitable contribution to the Taco Bell Foundation. We want to give back to the employees who are so important to the success of the Taco Bell brand. We want to be a blessing because we’ve been blessed.
With about 15 active and recent Taco Bell assignments, Unbridled Capital provides the franchise community with unrivaled investment banking services. For more information, please contact Rick Ormsby at 502-252-6422 or [email protected].