NEW YORK NexCen Brands Inc., owner of the MaggieMoo’s and Marble Slab Creamery premium ice cream restaurant brands, said late Tuesday that it had acquired the franchisor assets of the Pretzel Time and Pretzelmaker snack concepts for $29.4 million from Mrs. Fields Famous Brands LLC.
As of June 30, Pretzel Time Franchising LLC and Pretzelmaker Franchising LLC, both subsidiaries of Mrs. Fields, had a combined 376 franchised or licensed units worldwide, NexCen reported, with trailing 12-month aggregate revenues of about $6.4 million. NexCen estimated that aggregate revenues for the two businesses for the current full year would be about $6.7 million.
The purchase price includes $22.1 million in cash and about $7.3 million in NexCen common stock, the purchaser reported. Under Mrs. Fields, Pretzelmaker and Pretzel Time were headquartered in Salt Lake City.
Robert W. D’Loren, president and chief executive of New York-based NexCen, said in a statement that Pretzel Time and Pretzelmaker are “representative of the types of acquisition opportunities that [the company] has targeted to grow our QSR vertical and to increase sales in our existing ice cream concepts,” indicating that combined branded products could be available at all NexCen franchised restaurant locations.
MaggieMoo’s system includes about 184 units, and the Marble Slab chain boasts about 336 locations. NexCen, which also owns retail brands The Athlete’s Foot and Bill Blass, acquired the ice cream brands for about $37.1 million in cash, stock and notes in February.
Stephen Russo, president and chief executive of Mrs. Fields, itself a subsidiary of Mrs. Fields Cos. Inc., said the sale of Pretzel Time and Pretzelmaker would enable Mrs. Fields to focus on its “core business strategy.” The company still owns the Mrs. Fields and Great American Cookies snack brands and the TCBY frozen yogurt brand.
“We’ll be exploring opportunities to invest in our remaining brand portfolio,” Russo added.
