El Pollo Loco, Inc., a quick-serve specializing in flame-grilled chicken, announced today that Freeman Spogli & Co., a leading private equity investment firm, has made a $45 million equity investment in the parent of El Pollo Loco, Inc.

The investment will provide additional liquidity for the company, which it plans to use for general corporate purposes and to support an accelerated new store growth plan to further the company’s national expansion.

El Pollo Loco is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California and owned by Trimaran Capital Partners and company management. It operates a restaurant system consisting of 159 company-operated and 230 franchised restaurants. Freeman Spogli has invested approximately $2.5 billion in 42 portfolio companies with aggregate transaction value of $16 billion since its founding in 1983.