Dive Brief:
- Rubio’s parent company, MRRC Holdings Co., has accepted a $40 million credit bid from The Original Fish Taco, LLC, an affiliate of TREW Capital Management Private Credit, according to a Wednesday court filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
- TREW previously acquired all senior secured first-lien debt obligations from Rubio’s former lender Golub in March. As of May 31, 2024, Rubio’s prepetition debt was over $72 million.
- Rubio’s declared bankruptcy in June of this year, its second such filing since 2020, after macroeconomic headwinds led to three years of negative EBITDA.
Dive Insight:
TREW, which is founded by former BBQ Holdings CEO Jeff Crivello, specializes in distressed lending. The company previously loaned $2 million to BurgerFi, which is currently exploring strategic alternatives. Under Crivello’s leadership, Famous Dave’s became a multi-branded platform, BBQ Holdings, which went on a multi-year acquisition spree before it was acquired by MTY Holdings in 2022.
Rubio’s reported $51 million in sales year-to-date as of March 31, 2024, according to first day motions filed in June. Its sales for 2023 were $218 million, a slight increase from $217 million in 2022. Its losses grew from nearly $16 million in 2022 to about $20 million in 2023, and $7.9 million YTD as of March 31. It started working with Hilco Real Estate in November to negotiate concessions with landlords and closed 53 underperforming units in May. The company is focused on its Southern California and Arizona markets after the closures, per the filing.
The bid appears to be for Rubio’s core California and Arizona business, which make up the bulk of its store count. MRRC said it canceled its proposed auction in a filing earlier this week after it got a bid for California and Arizona and a separate bid for Nevada. MRRC said in the filing announcing the deal that it is still considering the bid for Nevada, where there are eight locations out of Rubio’s 86 total units, and said it won’t be seeking approval for that proposal at the sale hearing on Aug. 5.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of Rubio’s locations in Nevada. Rubio’s has eight locations in the state.
