Apollo Global Management has completed its acquisition of CEC Entertainment, a family dining and entertainment company and the operator of 577 Chuck E. Cheese’s stores.
“We are excited to announce the completion of this transaction,” said Scott Ross, Partner at Apollo. “We look forward to working alongside CEC’s strong management team, dedicated employees and franchise partners to support the company’s growth. Throughout the US and increasingly around the world, the Chuck E. Cheese’s brand has become synonymous with quality, safe and fun family entertainment.”
CEC Entertainment (NYSE: CEC) and its franchisees operate 577 Chuck E. Cheese’s stores located in 47 states and 10 foreign countries. Currently, 522 locations in the United States and Canada are owned and operated by the company. Each Chuck E. Cheese store features musical and comic robotic entertainment, games, rides and play areas, as well as a variety of dining options including pizza, sandwiches, wings, appetizers, a salad bar and desserts. CEC Entertainment is headquartered in Irving, TX (www.chuckecheese.com).
“We look forward to starting the next chapter in the long standing history of Chuck E. Cheese’s in partnership with Apollo,” said Michael Magusiak, President and CEO of CEC. “We believe this merger provides many opportunities for our team as we continue to evolve and grow our business around the world while continuing to provide our guests with an outstanding experience.
Apollo is a global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, London, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong. Apollo has total assets under management of approximately $113 billion in private equity, credit and real estate funds invested across a core group of nine industries (www.agm.com).
In January 2014, Apollo held the final close of its latest investment fund, Apollo Investment Fund VIII, LP, with third-party capital commitments of $17.5 billion. Apollo and affiliated investors, including senior professionals of the firm, committed an additional $880 million of capital bringing the total size of the new fund to approximately $18.4 billion. The original third-party hard cap for Fund VIII was $15 billion but was raised to $17.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013 in order to meet the demand from institutional investors.
Deutsche Bank Securities, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities are serving as financial advisors to Apollo and provided debt financing. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is serving as financial advisor to CEC Entertainment.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-18-14
