Yes, in a corporate and financial sense, Portillo's effectively "sold out" when founder Dick Portillo transferred ownership of the enterprise to the private equity firm Berkshire Partners. This transaction paved the way for rapid corporate expansion, standardized operating procedures, and an eventual initial public offering on public stock exchanges. While the brand successfully scaled from a regional Chicago favorite into a multi-state national chain, the transition shifted control away from family ownership into the hands of institutional investors and public shareholders.