The 34-unit Crumbs Bake Shop, New York, entered an agreement to be acquired by 57th Street General Acquisition Corp. The transaction is expected to be completed in March, and 57th Street will change its name to Crumbs Bake Shop.
The transaction allows for an initial expansion to 200 locations in the top 15 U.S. markets by the end of 2014. The Crumbs management team, led by Jason Bauer, cofounder and chief executive officer; Mia Bauer, co-founder and chief creative officer; and John Ireland, chief financial officer, will continue to lead the company.
Crumbs, the largest U.S.-based cupcake retailer, produces all-natural gourmet cupcakes in more than 75 flavors, including Black Bottom Cheesecake, caramel apple, cookies & cream, chocolate-covered strawberry, chocolate pecan pie and red velvet. The chain also offers more than 150 desserts including cakes, pies, cookies, Danish, scones, croissants, brownies and muffins.
“Mia and I never could have envisioned how far Crumbs would come when we started eight years ago,” said Jason Bauer. “This transaction is a statement for us about how many lives Crumbs has touched and eight years of really hard work and dedication of our amazing employees. We are very excited about Crumbs’ future and look forward to becoming a public company at the closing of our transaction with 57th Street. The additional equity capital that may be available should enable us to execute our development strategy more quickly.”