Bain Capital sells stake in Boost Juice, Betty’s Burgers parent in a deal worth $350 million

Bain Capital has sold its stake in Retail Zoo — which operates Boost Juice and Betty’s Burgers — to private equity firm Admantem Capital.

The value of the deal was reported to be worth about $350 million. Upon completion of the deal, Retail Zoo’s new investment partner will own a majority of the business and partner with the existing management team led by Nishad Alani, CEO of Retail Zoo.

“We were attracted by Retail Zoo as a strong platform in the food retail sector, with market-leading brands in Boost and Betty’s,” said Georgina Varley, MD at Adamantem. “Retail Zoo’s brands are well positioned through cycles as an ‘affordable indulgence’ offering.”

The company’s founder Janine Allis will remain a shareholder and director. The acquisition is expected to further boost Retail Zoo’s expansion.

“With Adamantem, we plan to invest in further expansion of our global footprint, leverage customer insights and analytics to drive our customer proposition and establish market-leading ESG frameworks for the business,” said Alani.

Since its inception in 2000, the quick-service restaurant operator has opened more than 750 retail stores in Australia and internationally. Its burger chain business Betty’s, which accounts for 56 per cent of the company sales, has grown from eight stores to 54 over the past five years.

Prior to Retail Zoo, Adamantem’s previous retail and consumer products investments include processed meats producer Hellers, professional sustainable haircare company NAK Hair, and horse feed and supplements manufacturer Hygain.

Bain Captial bought a major stake in Retail Zoo in 2014 for about $185 million from The Riverside Company. The investment company was considering listing the Retail Zoo business from 2019 before Covid-19 put that plan on hold. Last June, Bain Captial was reported to be in talks with Quadrant to sell Boost Juice and Betty’s Burgers chains to the firm.

This article was first published by Inside Retail.