Blackstone Buying Tropical Smoothie Cafe for $2B

Blackstone has announced a deal to acquire Tropical Smoothie Café, the top smoothie and juice franchise in the U.S. with more than 1,400 outlets in 44 states, from Los Angeles-based private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP).

Blackstone’s deal for the rapidly growing fast-casual chain is valued at close to $2B, including an assumption of Tropical Smoothie Café’s debt, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Terms of the deal were not included in the announcement.

Blackstone said in a release it intends to accelerate the expansion of the Atlanta-based chain, which added more than 175 new locations in 2023, 70% of which were opened by existing franchisees. In total, Tropical Smoothie Café inked 258 franchise agreements last year.

“Tropical Smoothie Café has had an impressive growth trajectory consistently building on its loyal customer base as it has scaled nationwide,” said Peter Wallace, senior managing director in Blackstone’s Private Equity business, in a statement.

“Blackstone has deep experience helping accelerate the expansion of leading franchise businesses as one of our highest-conviction areas,” Wallace said.

Launched as a single beachfront location in Destin, FL in 1997, Tropical Smoothie Café was acquired by LLCP in 2020. Entrepreneur Franchisee 500 has listed Tropical Smoothie Café as the top-ranked chain in its smoothie/juice category for four consecutive years.

Several chains that serve tropical food bowls and smoothies are in expansion mode in the quick-serve restaurant sector. Playa Bowls is rapidly entering new multi-unit franchise agreements as it aims to nearly double the size of its national footprint.

Playa Bowls, which decorates its table with whole pineapples, in February signed eight new multi-unit franchise agreements that will lead to the opening of 54 new locations, adding to 100 outlets that are in the company’s pipeline, Chain Store Age reported.

In 2024, Playa Bowls plans to open 75 new outlets and secure franchise commitments that will enable it to add an additional 150 stores in new and existing markets. The Belmar, NJ-based chain, which started in 2014, operates more than 200 outlets in 22 states.

The batch of multi-unit franchise agreements recently inked by Playa Bowls this year includes its entrance into the Chicago market and an increased presence in existing markets including Miami, New gYork, and Boston. Playa Bowls is targeting new markets in Houston and Dallas in this year’s wave of store openings, CSA reported.

Three of Playa Bowls’ most recent deals each encompassed 10 units, in Chicago, Boston and Manhattan.