Collins Foods to Transfer 20 Taco Bell Australia Stores, Close Seven Locations

After more than a year of publicly signaling its exit from Taco Bell in Australia, Collins Foods executed the split: 20 of its 27 restaurants will transfer to a partnership involving a Yum! Brands affiliate and Restaurant Brands Australia Holdings Pty Limited, while the remaining seven close in the coming weeks, the ASX-listed company announced on March 31, 2026.

For crew members and managers across all 27 locations in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, the announcement sets two very different clocks in motion.

At the 20 transferring stores, the incoming partnership will issue employment offers that workers must actively accept. The deal covers "employees who accept offers of employment from the new owners," language that makes acceptance a deliberate choice rather than an automatic continuation of employment. Workers who receive those offers should scrutinize the specifics: start dates, pay rates, accrued leave treatment, and whether service with Collins Foods will carry over toward entitlements with the new operator.

"We are especially pleased that our team members working in the 20 transitioning Taco Bell restaurants will be offered continuity of employment and job security," Collins Foods Managing Director and CEO Xavier Simonet said. "We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and to supporting all our team, whether transitioning or otherwise, through this process."

The picture is more urgent for the seven stores that will not transfer. Collins Foods said those locations will close in the coming weeks and that the company is working with "multiple interested parties" to reassign the leases. No re-employment guarantee was made for workers at those sites, making redundancy consultations and access to entitlements the immediate priority for affected staff and their managers.

Under the deal's mechanics, the 20 restaurants transfer for a nominal amount plus the value of stock and cash floats, with the incoming owners assuming lease liabilities upon completion. Collins Foods carried approximately AUD 24.0 million in Taco Bell lease liabilities across all 27 sites as of March 31, and expects one-off closure and transaction costs of roughly AUD 1-2 million related to the seven shutting stores. The company will also stop paying royalty and advertising contributions on any Taco Bell restaurant from April 1, 2026, and will be reimbursed, subject to conditions, for net operating losses and necessary capital expenditure on the 20 transitioning restaurants from April 1 until closing.

Completion is expected between June and August 2026, pending landlord consents, a store-based employment threshold, and regulatory clearance from the ACCC. Restaurant Brands Australia, described as a long-term global partner of Yum! Brands, will operate alongside the Taco Bell affiliate under a new partnership arrangement going forward.

David Mantellini, GM of Taco Bell Australia, framed the arrangement as a turning point rather than a retreat: "This is an important moment for Taco Bell in Australia."

Collins Foods first flagged its intent to exit the brand in April 2025, with the Taco Bell portfolio representing the smaller, loss-making portion of a restaurant group built around KFC. Simonet pointed to Germany as the growth target for the capital and attention freed up by the exit: "This will enable Collins Foods to focus on our core KFC business in Australia and Europe, including accelerating profitable development in Germany."

Collins Foods did not publicly name which 20 stores are transferring or which seven are closing; official communications from store leadership and the incoming operators will carry those answers as the deal moves toward its expected completion between June and August 2026.