Bessemer Investment Partners LLC (BIP), New York, acquired the assets of KorMex Foods, Inc., Houston, Texas, through a new portfolio company platform called MAS Restaurant Group, LLC (MRG).

MRG now operates 73 Taco Bell restaurants, including two co-branded KFC and six co-branded Pizza Hut Express locations in Houston and surrounding markets. The investment will provide capital to support future growth through new store development and acquisitions. 

MRG's management team, consisting of CEO Chad Motsinger (former chief operating officer at KorMex), CFO Ben Walsh (former vice president of financial planning and analysis at California Pizza Kitchen) and other executives previously with KorMex will lead MRG going forward.

"Over the past 18 years, we have built a successful company serving both our customers and our employees in the Houston community. Our partnership with BIP will allow us to continue that success as well as create a platform for new growth opportunities," says Motsinger.

"We see MRG as a platform with tremendous potential for expansion within the Taco Bell system, through both new store development and acquisitions. We look forward to partnering with Chad, Ben and the management team as they continue to operate high-quality restaurants and grow location count in Houston and beyond," adds Andrew Mendelsohn, principal at BIP.