Del Taco has abruptly closed all but one location in Colorado.

This taco deal is the whole enchilada: Jack in the Box is selling its entire Del Taco chain to one of its franchisees, Yadav Enterprises.

The Fremont, California-based Yadav Enterprises will pay $115 million to acquire Del Taco Holdings, a Jack in the Box subsidiary with more than 550 Del Taco restaurants.

Yadav Enterprises has 310 franchise restaurants including Jack in the Box, Denny’s and TGI Friday’s locations. The company also owns the fast-casual Taco Cabana restaurant chain with 150 locations, and Nick the Greek with 90 locations.

The transaction, which is expected to close by January 2026, will allow Jack in the Box to retire debt, the company said Oct. 16 in a news release.

"This divestiture is an important step in returning to simplicity, and we look forward to focusing on our core Jack in the Box brand," Jack in the Box CEO Lance Tucker said in a statement. "After a robust process, we are confident we have entered into a transaction with the right steward for Del Taco in its next chapter of evolution. We wish Del Taco success as they enter this next chapter."

The hamburger chain, which has about 2,160 restaurants in 22 states, bought Del Taco in 2022 in a $575 million deal, a move to diversify its position and cash in on the Mexican food chain's drive-through business.

However, Del Taco – which has won several 2025 USA TODAY 10Best Readers Choice Awards including Best Fast Food Restaurant – has struggled and in March temporarily closed nearly all of its Colorado locations before reopening them in June.

After taking over as Jack in the Box CEO in March, Tucker included a sale of Del Taco as part of his restructuring plan, released in April.

An interesting twist: Anil Yadav, CEO of Yadav Enterprises, got his start in the restaurant industry at age 17 as a fry cook at Jack in the Box. He became a manager in 1½ years and bought his first restaurant in 1989, Yadav says in a video profile naming him the winner of the 2018 Faces of Diversity Award from National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.

Contributing: Gabe Hauari

Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jack in the Box sells entire Del Taco chain for $115 million

Reporting by Mike Snider, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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