New On The Block
Bankers say these biscuits are worth billions. The $1.5 billion asking price for Bojangles, the fried chicken and biscuit fast-food chain, is about triple what private equity firms Durational Capital Management and TJC paid in 2019—just four years after the chain went public.
According to the Wall Street Journal, both strategic restaurant operators and private equity buyers are interested.
The North Carolina–based fast-casual brand has been expanding thanks to U.S. chicken chain sales spiking 9% last year.
The potential sale comes amid a broader M&A wave in the restaurant industry. Recent deals include Roark Capital's acquisition of Dave's Hot Chicken, Blackstone's stake in Jersey Mike's, and Sycamore Partners' purchase of Playa Bowls.
Meanwhile, Apollo (NYSE:APO) and Irth Capital have made a $2 billion bid for Papa John's (NASDAQ:PZZA). Coincidentally, Irth's co-founder previously led the Bojangles buyout at Durational.
Also for sale:
- South Korean retailer Homeplus; The seller is MBK Partners, Bloomberg reports.
- Texas-based Healix Infusion Care, a portfolio company of TA Associates, per Axios.
Updates From The Block
- Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI, a startup that values the company at more than $29 billion. The $14.8 billion all-cash transaction marks Meta's largest investment in a company since its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp a decade ago. As part of the agreement, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang will join Meta, although Meta will hold only non-voting stock and forgo governance rights such as board representation, veto power, or drag-along rights. These structural decisions are widely viewed as a strategy to avoid triggering antitrust concerns at a time when regulatory scrutiny of Big Tech remains high.
- Advent International is in exclusive talks to acquire Air Wick maker Essential Home, the consumer goods unit of Reckitt (LSE: RKT), Reuters reports.
- Craneware (LSE: CRW), a British enterprise software firm, rejected a £938.4 million offer from Bain Capital, calling the private equity firm’s offer a lowball. The £26.50 per share bid was a 38% premium—but apparently not enough to impress.
Off The Block
- After over two years of corporate tug-of-war, Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) has finally bought out Comcast's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) one-third stake in Hulu. According to Variety, Disney managed to haggle the price down. Instead of shelling out the full $27.5 billion valuation Comcast wanted, Disney — which had about $5.852 billion in cash on hand for the quarter ending March 31 — will pay about $9 billion for the stake. This includes an extra $438.7 million recently agreed upon after arbitration.
Bankruptcy Block
- Auto parts supplier Marelli Holdings Co., which serves major automakers like Nissan and Stellantis (Jeep), has filed for bankruptcy protection due to years of losses, a heavy debt load, and worsening conditions tied to Trump-era tariffs. The company, formed in 2019 through a KKR-led merger of Fiat Chrysler’s parts unit and a Japanese supplier, employs over 40,000 people globally.CEO David Slump said Marelli was already weakened by Covid-related supply chain disruptions when its financial position deteriorated further in March due to tariffs that hit import/export-dependent businesses like theirs especially hard. The firm, burdened with nearly $5 billion in debt, was also hurt by the prolonged semiconductor shortage. Despite the filing, Marelli plans to continue operating under a restructuring deal backed by over $1 billion in new financing.
- Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVA), one of the largest rooftop solar companies in the U.S., has received court approval to begin using a $90 million bankruptcy loan to keep operating while it looks to sell its business under Chapter 11. Judge Alfredo Perez approved an initial $15 million draw, with the rest pending future approval. Earlier this week, a Bloomberg report suggested Oaktree Capital Management has been buying up debt in the company.
Notes From The Block
Benzinga sat down with 28-year-old financial advisor Luke Lloyd, founder of the newly launched Lloyd Financial Group. Formerly a wealth advisor at Strategic Wealth Partners, where he helped manage $1.5 billion in client assets, Lloyd brings a sharp eye for macroeconomic trends, individual stock analysis, and deal-making dynamics.
Now running his own RIA firm, he's focused on delivering personalized, strategic investment guidance with a deep understanding of today's fast-moving financial landscape, including hot takes on M&A:
Benzinga: Where do you think the most consolidation is going to happen this year and next?
Lloyd: It’s going to be where all the money’s at. It’s going to be big tech. Take Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and add up all their cash accounts. If these tech giants are collecting 5% of their cash on interest, and interest rates drop at all, they will go out there and buy everything they can buy. I also think the most divesting will also happen in tech. These big corporations are too inefficient. They’re too big.
BZ: What should they do?
Lloyd: The most efficient way is to do something like eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) did. There are all these ways you can break up your company and actually make more money and add more shareholder value. These guys can write $2 billion checks to these small, mid-cap companies and not even feel a single thing. They’re making more on their interest, on their cash accounts, than they are writing those checks. Divesting the big parts of tech will also happen, probably in the next couple of years. I’m not saying it will happen this year, but in the next couple of years — I talked about this on Fox Business, probably six months ago — Apple will get broken up to focus on growth areas, like AI. Apple is behind the eight-ball with AI compared to others.
BZ: That’s something that Senator Bernie Sanders would like to hear.
Lloyd: I’m not saying the government’s going to do it. I’m saying I think it’s in the company’s best interest. Corporations themselves should want to break up in some ways because they make more money and become more efficient. If they can lean up certain sectors and areas, they can actually be able to deliver more shareholder value.
BZ: We’re not hearing much of that conversation from big tech.
Lloyd: I’m not either. I just hope it happens to add more shareholder value. I think they’re too fat and fluffy, and I think that it’s definitely possible and something that could happen that I’m keeping an eye on.
Check back soon for our whole conversation with Lloyd; For last week’s edition of the Deal Dispatch, click here.
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