Boxwood Capital Partners has acquired a majority equity interest in SweetFrog Enterprises, an operator of self-serve frozen yogurt stores and franchises. Boxwood Capital made a minority investment in SweetFrog in April 2012.
SweetFrog is an operator of owned, franchised, and licensed self-serve frozen yogurt stores. The company currently has 348 stores including both company-owned, franchise and independently licensed locations either open or under contract in 24 states in the US, Dominican Republic, United Kingdom and soon to be open in Egypt. SweetFrog was listed #22 on the Inc. 500 list of fast growing companies in 2014. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Richmond, VA (www.sweetfrogyogurt.com).
“SweetFrog is the quality leader across the category using real dairy and providing customers a truly unique experience than the other brands,” said Boxwood partner Patrick Galleher. According to Boxwood, SweetFrog’s growth has been driven through a family friendly atmosphere, proprietary flavors which tend to be sweeter than West Coast frozen yogurt while healthier than traditional ice cream. Boxwood plans to expand SweetFrog’s product offerings, geographic footprint, and continue the company’s international expansion.
Boxwood Capital Partners is the investment arm of Boxwood Partners, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm. Boxwood Capital Partners invests from $2 million to $20 million in lower-middle-market companies that have free cash flow between $500,000 and $2 million and EBITDA margins of at least 15%. Sectors of interest include food and consumer products; value added distribution; media; e-commerce; fulfillment/warehousing; business & technology services; and light manufacturing. The firm is based in Richmond, VA (www.boxwoodpartnersllc.com).
“We welcome Boxwood Capital Partners’ further investment in SweetFrog and look forward to collaborating with them in the future,” said Derek Cha, Founder of Sweet Frog. “We will retain 15 SweetFrog locations, becoming SweetFrog’s largest franchisee as part of the transaction. We believe that SweetFrog is well positioned for further national and international expansion as the frozen yogurt industry consolidates.”
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-4-15
