Houlihan Lokey Advises Pacific Island Restaurants

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Pacific Island Restaurants, Inc., a portfolio company of Nimes Capital, has been acquired by Restaurant Brands New Zealand for $105 million. The transaction closed on March 7, 2017.

Pacific Island Restaurants, headquartered in Honolulu, is the exclusive Taco Bell and Pizza Hut franchisee in Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan. Over its rich 45-year history, the company has grown to become the dominant market leader in both the Mexican food and pizza categories in Hawaii. Under Nimes' ownership, Pacific Island Restaurants consistently posted system-leading same-stores sales results and grew EBITDA by nearly 40%. Today, the company operates 37 Taco Bell and 45 Pizza Hut restaurants and has approximately 2,000 employees.

Nimes Capital is the private investment arm of Nazarian Enterprises. Nazarian Enterprises has a well-established track record of successful investing, including its role as a lead early-stage investor in Qualcomm, Inc. Led by David Nazarian, the Nimes Capital team has invested in, operated, and/or overseen numerous investments across a broad spectrum of industries.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand is a corporate franchisee based in Auckland, New Zealand, specializing in the management of multi-site branded food retail chains. Restaurant Brands is the primary New Zealand franchisee for Pizza Hut, KFC, Carl’s Jr. and Starbucks Coffee and is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange under NZX code RBD. It employs nearly 6,000 staff across New Zealand and Australia and serves over 60,000 customers throughout New Zealand daily.