Grupo Gigante appointed José Antonio Meade Kuribreña on October 16, 2026 as an independent director and non-executive chairman of its Board of Directors, a role he will formally assume on January 1, 2027, according to Expansión.

The announcement came ahead of the retirement of Ángel Losada Moreno, who has chaired the conglomerate's board since 2003, according to El Financiero. Luis Sayeg Seade, former general director of Administration of Investments at Citibanamex, was also named an independent director, effective the same date.

For readers in the Mexican and Mexican-American community, the leadership change at a group with a presence in Mexico, the United States and Canada (it operates Shake Shack, Toks and Petco) matters because it comes amid a possible cross-border transaction. In July, the group reported that it was evaluating the acquisition of the La Casa de Toño chain, which according to El Financiero is worth more than 400 million dollars; in August the negotiation was advancing and would include 81 restaurants.

Meade Kuribreña arrives with a long track record in banking and consumer sectors. Since February 2026 he has chaired the Board of Directors of HSBC México, he has been an independent director of HSBC Holdings since March 2019 and sits on the boards of Chedraui, Nemak and Fibra Uno, according to his corporate profile as reported by Expansión. He served as secretary of Energy, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Social Development across two administrations and was a presidential candidate in 2018. His role at Gigante will be to lead board meetings and oversee strategy, without running the day-to-day operations of its businesses.

The group's brands (Office Depot, Radio Shack, Petco, Toks, Shake Shack, El Farolito and Casa Ideas) serve a consumer who shops the same way in Mexico City as in Houston or Los Angeles, and the restaurant sector is one of the largest generators of employment in Mexico. The move comes just as the comida corrida chain looks north.

What to watch: the new board takes office on January 1, 2027 and the companies involved have not yet formalized the transaction. The question that will be resolved in the coming months is whether the La Casa de Toño deal closes with Meade already at the table.

This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.