Collins Foods Advances Taco Bell Exit to Refocus on Core KFC Business

An update from Collins Foods ( (AU:CKF) ) is now available.

Collins Foods has struck a conditional deal to transfer 20 of its 27 Australian Taco Bell restaurants, along with eligible staff and associated lease liabilities, to an affiliated Taco Bell company and Restaurant Brands Australia under a new partnership arrangement. The remaining seven Taco Bell sites will be closed in the coming weeks, with Collins Foods seeking to assign those leases to new tenants and exit the brand entirely in Australia.

Under the transition, Collins Foods will be reimbursed for net operating losses and necessary capex on the 20 transferring stores from 1 April 2026 until completion, while losses and cash outflows on the seven closing restaurants will cease once lease assignments are executed. The company will stop paying Taco Bell royalties and advertising contributions from 1 April 2026 and expects to reverse about $24 million of lease liabilities tied to the 27 sites, while incurring one-off closure and transaction costs of $1–2 million as it sharpens its focus on expanding its core KFC business, especially in Germany.

The most recent analyst rating on (AU:CKF) stock is a Hold with a A$9.50 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Collins Foods stock, see the AU:CKF Stock Forecast page.

More about Collins Foods

Collins Foods Limited is an Australian-based quick-service restaurant operator best known for running KFC outlets across its core markets of Australia and Europe, with a particular focus on growth in Germany. The company has also operated Taco Bell restaurants in Australia under a franchise model, but has been progressively exiting this brand to concentrate capital and management on its more profitable KFC network.

YTD Price Performance: -12.63%

Average Trading Volume: 316,177

Technical Sentiment Signal: Buy

Current Market Cap: A$1.07B

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