Crumbs Reaches Acquisition Agreement with Marcus Lemonis & Fischer Enterprises Joint Venture as Part of Company’s Voluntary...
July 11 2014 - 9:06PM
Business Wire
Company has Obtained Commitment for DIP
Financing from Joint Venture
Crumbs Bake Shop, Inc. ("Crumbs") (OTC Pink:CRMB), a New York
based cupcake specialty store chain, today announced that it has
entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement through which Lemonis
Fischer Acquisition Company, LLC, a joint venture created by Marcus
Lemonis LLC and Fischer Enterprises, L.L.C., will acquire the
Crumbs’ business as part of the Company’s filing of voluntary
Chapter 11 petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the
District of New Jersey.
Lemonis Fischer Acquisition Company, which provided pre-petition
secured financing to Crumbs, has also committed to provide
debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing to the Company, subject to
court approval. The agreement with Lemonis Fischer Acquisition
Company comprises the initial stalking horse bid in the
Court-supervised auction process under Section 363 of the
Bankruptcy Code. Under the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement,
Lemonis Fischer Acquisition Company would acquire substantially all
of Crumbs’ assets. The Company hopes to complete the sale process
in approximately 60 days, pending receipt of the necessary
approvals from the Bankruptcy Court.
“We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Lemonis
and Fischer after carefully evaluating opportunities to strengthen
Crumbs’ financial position in order to ensure a strong future for
the Crumbs brand and business,” said Edward M. Slezak, Crumbs Chief
Executive Officer and General Counsel. “The steps we are taking
today will allow us to continue to execute our business strategy,
expand our licensing business and position ourselves to move toward
a franchise store model. We remain saddened that we were forced to
cease operations before this agreement was reached, but we strongly
believe that pursuing this sale through the chapter 11 process is
ultimately in the best interest of the Company and its
stakeholders.”
“I truly believe in the Crumbs brand and am excited to help the
Company enter into a new chapter in its history,” said Marcus
Lemonis, host of CNBC’s The Profit series and CEO of Camping World
and Good Sam Enterprises. “I think there is tremendous opportunity
to expand the Crumbs offering, build on the Company’s growth
strategy and to leverage the synergies between Crumbs and other
companies in my and the Fischers’ portfolio, such as Dippin’ Dots
ice cream, Doc Popcorn, Wicked Good Cupcakes, Little Miss Muffin,
Betty Lou’s snacks, a host of gluten-free baked goods, Matt’s
Cookies, Pie King, Key West Key Lime Pies, Mr. Green Tea Ice Cream,
Sweet Pete’s Candy and Coffee of Grace (Grace Hightower De Niro),
as well as a new exciting product from an episode of the upcoming
fall season of CNBC’s The Profit.”
“Fischer Enterprises is excited to partner with Marcus Lemonis
in the next phase of its evolving relationship with Crumbs,” said
Scott Fischer, C.O.O., Fischer Enterprises. “We strongly feel that
the team we’ve put together has the business experience and
industry know-how to improve Crumb’s product mix, broaden its
consumer appeal and make the Company a profitable business concern
going forward.”
Lemonis Fischer Acquisition Company and Crumbs will evaluate the
retail strategy with the goal of reopening select locations or
opening new locations in the future. Additionally, Mr. Slezak will
remain with the Company throughout the process in order to ensure a
smooth emergence and transition.
As previously communicated, Crumbs had historically implemented
a retail expansion strategy that was ultimately proven
unsustainable. In the past year, the company had begun shifting its
growth strategy to focus on licensing and franchising opportunities
and has been successful in signing new licensees for its baked
goods, as well as new products including Crumbs branded bake mix,
bakeware, coffee and gourmet popcorn. While Crumbs has made
tremendous progress in expanding its distribution channels and
avenues for growth in recent months, the Board of Directors and
management ultimately decided to pursue a sale of the business
through the chapter 11 process in order to give Crumbs the
flexibility to focus on new opportunities for the benefit of the
business and its stakeholders.
Interested parties can access additional information about the
Company’s chapter 11 filing and sale process at
http://cases.primeclerk.com/crumbs.
Glass Ratner is serving as Crumbs’ financial advisor and the law
firm Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard P.A. is serving as
Crumbs’ legal advisor.
About Crumbs
The first Crumbs bake shop opened in March 2003 on the Upper
West Side of Manhattan and is well known for its innovative and
oversized gourmet cupcakes.
Crumbs Media:FTI ConsultingLeigh Parrish,
212-850-5651leigh.parrish@fticonsulting.comorMarcus Lemonis
Media:Karen Porter, 917-215-8636kporter@MarcusLemonis.comorFischer
Enterprises Media:Gooden Group PRMeg Martin,
405-397-6156mmartin@goodengroup.com
Crumbs Bake Shop (CE) (USOTC:CRMBQ)
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