# Sun Holdings

Dallas, TX. One of the largest US restaurant franchisees: 1,800-plus Burger King, Applebee's, IHOP, and Taco Bueno units, and now buying the brands themselves, a second ceiling above the multi-unit deal.

- Website: https://www.sunholdings.net/

## The Firm

Founded by Guillermo Perales and headquartered in Dallas, Sun Holdings is one of the largest restaurant franchisees in the United States, operating more than 1,800 units across Burger King, Applebee's, IHOP, and Papa Johns, plus its own Taco Bueno and Freebirds World Burrito brands.

Where a smaller operator adds a store at a time, Sun Holdings has begun adding whole brands. It bought the 37-unit Mexican chain Uncle Julio's out of a December 2024 foreclosure auction, and the 39-unit gastropub Bar Louie out of bankruptcy in 2025, deepening the Mexican-dining and casual-dining segments it already runs. The pattern is a franchisee moving up to own the flag, not just the units under it.

For a restaurant or franchise-resale searcher, Sun Holdings is the second ceiling beside Flynn Group. It does not bid on a single store, so the one-unit deal is safe from it, but it sets the multiple on multi-unit packages and is a plausible top-down exit for an operator who builds real scale. In a meeting, know the Dallas base, the 1,800-plus-unit footprint, and the recent move from operating brands to buying them.

## Confirmed Deals

Deals traced to announcements, newest first. Firms that announce every deal show a fuller run here than firms that report acquisitions as quarterly counts, so read this as the evidence that clears the bar rather than as the firm's whole record.

- Bar Louie (2025-10-08): The 39-unit gastropub chain acquired out of bankruptcy, adding a casual-dining brand to the portfolio. Source: https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/sun-holdings-acquires-bar-louie-bankruptcy/802319/
- Uncle Julio's (2024-12-19): A 37-unit Mexican dining chain with $6M-plus unit volumes, bought from a foreclosure auction to grow the Mexican-dining segment. Source: https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/sun-holdings-buys-uncle-julios-forclosure-auction/738452/

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/buyers/sun-holdings