Talks of Retail Zoo acquisition premature, according to CEO
Mother company of Boost Juice, Salsa’s Fresh Mex Grill, Cibo Espresso and Hatch Chicken Shop.
According to a story published by The Sydney Morning Herald, Street Talk revealed on Tuesday that Bain Capital is in exclusive negotiations to acquire a 70 per cent stake in Retail Zoo from The Riverside Company for about $185 million.
Click here to read the full story at The Sydney Morning Herald.
The deal was apparently signed last week and is expected to close by the end of the month.
In an e-mail to QSR Media, Scott Meneilly, Chief Executive Officer of Retail Zoo, emphasised that the recent media attention on Bain Capital's interest on the company is premature. "Riverside is a private equity investor in our business, and as is normal for any investor of this type, at some point in the future they will be looking to divest their interest. Bain has definitely shown interest in our business however at this stage we don’t have anything to discuss."
He noted that regardless of the investment structure, the executive, management and operations team will remain the same, and that Jeff and Janine Allis will remain as shareholders.
Meanwhile, at a management level, it is business as usual for Retail Zoo.
"As we move toward the end of the financial year, Retail Zoo is very well positioned to achieve our 6th consecutive year of double digit EBITDA growth. Over the last 6 months, we have also had fantastic double digit comparative sales growth in Boost since the launch of our green juices and smoothies, franchisee satisfaction is at an all-time high and we have a very solid pipeline for growth, so we have a lot to be positive about."
