Mexican fast food chain, Chilango has today announced it will extend its Burrito Bond 2TM bond offering into the new year.
Launched in October, Chilango set out to raise £1m by 2 December. The initial target was surpassed in just over 24 hours. As of today, Chilango has raised over £2.3m from nearly 400 investors. This figure exceeds the £2.1m Chilango raised in 2014 with the inaugural Burrito Bond.
Due to continued strong demand, together with new site opportunities on the horizon, Chilango has today confirmed that it will keep the investment opportunity open into 2019.
The investment will be used to fund Chilango’s expansion. The company is set to open its first site in Birmingham early next year and has plans for more London restaurants in the capital. With each new Chilango restaurant costing approximately £500,000 to kit out, additional funds will accelerate the company’s growth.
Burrito Bond 2TM will deliver gross interest of 8% per annum over four years and bondholders will have the option to have their principal redeemed in full at maturity.
Co-CEO Eric Partaker said, “The response to the Burrito Bond has been overwhelming. The continued demand we are receiving is testament to the enthusiasm the public has about our mission to inject flavour and vibrancy into the largely bland high-street dining landscape. Extending the Burrito Bond will give us the opportunity to welcome more people into the Chilango family and spread our message further afield.”
Over 700 investors, including high-profile executives from several of the world’s top food brands, backed the last unlisted corporate bond, the first in the world to be launched in this way. This time around several high-profile executives have invested once again, including the former CEO of Domino’s Pizza UK, the former MD of itsu, and the former VP of Marketing for McDonald’s UK.
Founded in 2007 by two former Skype colleagues, Eric Partaker and Dan Houghton, Chilango’s estate currently includes 11 restaurants based out of London and most recently, Manchester. Chilango serves fresh, bold and creative Mexican meals to over 25,000 guests every day.
Partaker said, “While many casual dining chains have experienced difficult times of late, our quick-service concept has helped us post the best results ever in our 11-year corporate history, with positive like for like sales of 5.3% and all our restaurants profitable. The UK is riding a Mexican wave and Chilango looks forward to welcoming another round of investors and brand evangelists into the family.”
Chilango recorded sales of £10.3m in sales and £1.7m in restaurant EBITDA last year – with forecast restaurant EBITDA of £2.1m and nearly £11m in sales in the current financial year.
It will open the doors on its Birmingham restaurant within the next few months, with plans to add further restaurants to its already strong and profitable base (at an approximate cash outlay of £500,000 for each restaurant).