Mayfair's Yo! acquires US-based SnowFox

Unquote understands that the combined company will have an enterprise value of around $400m, while the Wall Street Journal reported that the transaction values SnowFox at more than $100m.

The consolidated group will have a combined turnover of around $425m, of which around two-thirds will be accounted for by North American sales. It will have concessions in retailers across North America and the UK, including Kroger, Loblaws, Walmart, Sobeys, Waitrose, Sam's Club and Tesco, in addition to operating 1,400 kiosks, seven central kitchens and 116 restaurants.

The deal comes four years after Mayfair acquired a controlling stake in Yo! from Quilvest Private Equity for a total consideration of £82m. Since then, it has acquired Canada-headquartered Bento Sushi and UK-based Taiko Foods. The business also recently opened a site in Ashford and is in the process of launching a flagship site in Westfield White City, in addition to piloting grab-and-go kiosks in Tesco stores.

SnowFox chairperson Jim Kim will become a significant shareholder in the group and take a seat on its board of directors following the latest deal. The company's president, Stacy Kwon, and Bento Sushi CEO Glenn Brown will both become co-president for North America.

Company
Founded in 2005, Houston-headquartered SnowFox operates a network of 700 sushi kiosks across the US, primarily based in supermarkets.

People
Yo! Sushi – Richard Hodgson (CEO).
SnowFox – Jim Kim (chairperson); Stacy Kwon (president).

Advisers
Equity – Spayne Lindsay (corporate finance); Linklaters (legal).
Company (SnowFox) – M3 Asset Management (corporate finance); FocalPoint Securities (corporate finance); Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Mayfair Equity Partners
• Build-up
• Linklaters