NexCen Brands is expected to announce today the purchase of Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo’s International in a move to overtake Cold Stone Creamery. Interesting news for the premium ice cream world!
The purchases, which are expected to be announced today, could shake up the young industry, which in the last decade has transformed ice cream from a simple and relatively inexpensive pleasure into a luxury product, blended by hand on marble slabs with mix-ins, like crumbled cookies and fruit, often at a cost of $5 or more a scoop. The chains, with more than 520 franchise locations between them and combined sales of about $140 million, are expected to be bought for $37 million in cash and stock.
The buyer, NexCen Brands, is only six months old, but it has already made its presence known on Wall Street, buying the footwear chain Athlete’s Foot and the designer clothing label Bill Blass.
MaggieMoo’s opened its first store in 1989 and has more than 150 franchises under development. Marble Slab opened its first store in 1983 and has 157 stores under development. Cold Stone Creamery, founded in 1988, has 1,400 stores worldwide.