U-Swirl Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, U-SWIRL International, which operates and franchises self-serve frozen yogurt cafés, has acquired the business assets of Josie's Frozen Yogurt. The acquisition of all intellectual property and worldwide franchise and license rights includes the rights associated with 11 currently operating Josie's Frozen Yogurt stores. The stores are located in Arizona, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, and Virginia. While financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Josie's will be entitled to an earn-out if certain milestones are achieved.
U-Swirl Inc. is majority-owned by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc.
"The completion of this acquisition increases the size of U-Swirl's store base by 14 percent, to a total of 90 units in 25 states," says Rico Conte, chief executive officer of U-Swirl Inc. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work and share best practices with another budding frozen yogurt brand. Josie's store management team includes many well-seasoned franchisees, several of which have experience at nationally recognized franchise organizations such as Subway and Panhandlers' Pizza. Our immediate goals are to identify the potential for increased savings, offer enhanced support services, and execute on cost-reduction strategies throughout the Josie's franchise network."
"We are pleased to welcome Josie's Frozen Yogurt to the U-Swirl family of frozen yogurt brands as we continue to expand our competitive footprint within the $6 billion away-from-home frozen desserts market," Conte says. "The self-serve frozen yogurt market is extremely fragmented, and we believe consolidation is necessary for the future success of the industry. U-Swirl intends to play an important role in this process as we pursue economies of scale through both organic growth and an aggressive acquisition program."
