Pie Face Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation and Brooklyn, New York-based subsidiary of Pie Face Holdings Pty Ltd, based in Sydney, Australia, today announced the closing of a private placement of shares of its common stock.
Total gross proceeds to Pie Face USA were $15 million. The purchased shares represent approximately 43 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Pie Face USA on a fully diluted basis.
The shares were purchased by Steve Wynn, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Wynn Resorts, Limited (NYSE: WYNN). Pie Face USA is also announcing that Kevin McCollum, a leading Broadway producer, will be consulting with it on its U.S. marketing programs.
Wynn will appoint two directors to the board of directors of Pie Face USA alongside Wayne Homschek (co-founder and CEO of Pie Face Australia and president of Pie Face USA); Betty Fong (co-founder and COO of Pie Face Australia); Alun Evans (head of business development of Pie Face Australia); and Chris Sieger (vice president of strategic development of Pie Face USA).
“We are thrilled to have such experienced and talented entrepreneurs supporting us in the roll-out of Pie Face USA,” Homschek says. “Initially we will be opening company-owned stores in New York City, followed by a planned national rollout in other key markets across the United States. We could not have asked for a better endorsement of our brand and our potential in both the United States and globally.”
“Having met the Pie Face USA management team recently and having visited their first store in New York, I came to the conclusion that they were bright people with a bright concept,” Wynn says. “I look forward to backing them as they expand throughout Manhattan and across the United States.”
“On a recent trip to Australia I came face-to-face with Pie Face and fell in love with their pies and the creative energy behind the brand,” McCollum says. “When Wayne and Betty opened their first store in America, I was compelled to seek them out and be a part of the Pie Face adventure.”
Wynn is one of America’s most respected entrepreneurs and is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Wynn Resorts, Limited, the developer, owner, and operator of Wynn Las Vegas, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, Wynn Macau, and Encore at Wynn Macau.
Wynn has been involved in the hospitality industry since 1963, when he took over his family’s bingo parlor in Maryland. In 1967, he accumulated a small stake in the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
From there, Wynn went on to rebuild the Las Vegas strip by building or refurbishing the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, and Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. In 2006, Wynn Resorts, Limited opened one the first casinos in Macau, Wynn Macau. Encore at Wynn Macau opened in 2010.
McCollum is one of Broadway’s most successful producers, having credits for such productions as Rent in 1996. That year, Rent won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, and Best Featured Actor as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
In 2005, he served as the Executive Producer for the movie version of Rent. His company, The Producing Office, has been responsible for a number of highly successful projects including Avenue Q in 2004, The Drowsy Chaperone in 2006, and In the Heights in 2007.
