Taco Bell to acquire Pup 'n Taco

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 12, 1984

IRVINE, Calif. -- Taco Bell has agreed to buy all 99 units of privately held Pup 'n Taco Drive Up, the Long Beach, Calif.-based fast-food chain operating throughout southern California. Terms of the proposed buyout, expected to close within 60 days, were not disclosed.

Phased conversion of nearly all units to the Taco Bell format is expected over an approximate six-month period after the deal is completed, company officials indicated. The 1,800-unit Mexican fast feeder, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, expects to devise new building prototypes for the remodels, which might include test units of a drive-thru-only concept.

The massive acquisition/conversion tactic, expanding Taco Bell's 270-unit presence in the five-county Los Angeles market, is the first such deal in the company's history, senior vice president Larry Higby said.

"The fit is so good [between locations of existing Taco Bell and Pup 'n Taco units]. They were where we weren't."

Pup 'n Taco, begun by president Russell C. Wendell Sr. in 1965 as a single hotdog-and-taco stand in Pasadena, Calif., had expanded to as many as 108 units at one time. Annual sales last year were estimated at nearly $20 million.