LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Del Taco Restaurants, Inc., (NASDAQ:TACO), the second largest
Mexican-American QSR chain by units in the United States, today
announced that President and Chief Brand Officer John D. Cappasola, Jr.
has been named as Chief Executive Officer, to succeed Paul J.B. Murphy,
III. Mr. Cappasola will also replace Mr. Murphy on the Company’s Board
of Directors. Mr. Murphy will remain with the Company into July to
ensure a seamless and orderly transition of leadership and
responsibilities.
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As part of the planned succession, Mr. Murphy has notified the Company
that he plans to relocate permanently to Denver, CO and will resign on
July 7, 2017, at which time Mr. Cappasola will fully assume his new
position as Chief Executive Officer and director.
Mr. Cappasola joined Del Taco in a senior leadership role in 2008. He
has been Del Taco’s President since January 2017 and Chief Brand Officer
since February 2011. He previously served as Executive Vice President
and Chief Brand Officer, leading Del Taco’s efforts in brand strategy,
operations, marketing, menu development, and culinary innovation. Paul
J.B. Murphy, III has been Del Taco’s Chief Executive Officer since
February 2009 and served as President from February 2009 through
December 2016.
Chairman of the Board Lawrence F. Levy commented, “John is a dynamic,
people-oriented brand leader who understands strategy and driving
business results. John was instrumental in the development of our
successful Combined Solutions strategy that has established a solid
foundation for the brand and produced some of the top results in the
industry over the past 5 years. Game changing new product innovation,
highly effective marketing campaigns and dramatic improvements in the
guest experience are a direct result of John’s leadership across our
organization. The entire Del Taco family looks forward to working with
John in this natural evolution of his leadership role.”
Levy added, “We thank Paul for his many contributions to Del Taco. Paul
has developed a high-performing culture and an outstanding leadership
team that is poised to continue delivering superior performance. We
deeply appreciate Paul for his leadership and commitment to Del Taco and
wish him all the best.”
Chief Executive Officer Paul J.B. Murphy, III stated, “It has been my
privilege and honor to be part of Del Taco for the past eight years, and
I am confident in the strong team we have assembled to execute on the
growing opportunity ahead of this beloved brand. John and I have been
working together preparing for this transition and I can confidently say
that the company could not ask for a better person to lead it into its
next phase of growth. John will continue to be a driving force pushing
the brand to evolve to meet ever-changing consumer needs and ensuring
that our operations teams are set up to successfully deliver on that
brand promise.”
Incoming Chief Executive Officer John D. Cappasola, Jr. said, “I am
excited to assume this new role which I feel is a once in a lifetime
career opportunity. Del Taco is a unique company with a deep rooted
culture and a great team of people who care about elevating this iconic
brand and each other. Working side by side with Paul over the past
several years has uniquely prepared me for this role and I am confident
that our team is going to build upon what we have already accomplished
and take Del Taco to new heights.”
About Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.
Del Taco (NASDAQ:TACO) offers a unique variety of both Mexican and
American favorites such as burritos and fries, prepared fresh in every
restaurant’s working kitchen with the value and convenience of a drive
thru. Del Taco’s menu items taste better because they are made with
quality ingredients like freshly grated cheddar, hand-chopped pico de
gallo, sliced avocado, slow-cooked beans made from scratch, and
fresh-grilled marinated chicken and carne asada. The brand’s UnFreshing
Believable® campaign further communicates Del Taco’s commitment to
provide guests with the best quality and value for their money. Founded
in 1964, today Del Taco serves more than three million guests each week
at its more than 550 restaurants across 15 states. For more information,
visit www.deltaco.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this release may contain a number
of “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include,
without limitation, information concerning Del Taco’s possible or
assumed future results of operations, business strategies, competitive
position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities and the
effects of regulation. These statements are based Del Taco’s
management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of
assumptions concerning future events. When used in this press release,
the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,”
“forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “target,” “may,”
“will,” “should,” “future,” “propose,” “preliminary,” “guidance,” “on
track” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the
negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other
important factors, many of which are outside Del Taco’s management’s
control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks
included, without limitation, consumer demand, our inability to
successfully open company-operated or franchised restaurants or
establish new markets, competition in our markets, our inability to grow
and manage growth profitably, adverse changes in food and supply costs,
our inability to access additional capital, changes in applicable laws
or regulations, food safety and foodborne illness concerns, our
inability to manage existing and to obtain additional franchisees, our
inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, our inability to
profitably expand into new markets, changes in, or the discontinuation
of, the Company’s repurchase program, and the possibility that we may be
adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive
factors. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed
in Del Taco’s reports filed with the SEC, including under Item 1A. Risk
Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 3,
2017, and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov
and the Company’s website at www.deltaco.com.
Forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the
date of this release. Del Taco undertakes no obligation to update its
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the
date of this release or otherwise.
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Source: Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.