News

Butterfly Equity has acquired Modern Market, an operator of fast casual restaurants in Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Washington, D.C. and Maryland. No financial terms were disclosed. Piper Jaffray served as financial adviser to Modern Market on the deal.

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES and DENVER, February 27, 2018 — Butterfly, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm specializing in the food sector, today announced it has acquired Modern Market, a farm-to-table fast casual restaurant company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Modern Market currently operates 28 fast casual restaurants across Colorado, Texas, Arizona, D.C. and Maryland that serve healthy, high-quality, sustainably-sourced, scratch-made fare at an attractive price point. Modern Market’s menu features a variety of protein-centric plates and bowls, garden fresh salads, toasted sandwiches and brick oven pizzas served in a comfortable and highly-convenient format well-suited to meet the rapidly-changing demands of the modern restaurant consumer. The company was founded in 2009 by Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Anthony Pigliacampo and Rob McColgan and is based in Denver, Colorado.

“By combining their unique technical backgrounds in engineering and business with a deep understanding of the most important trends impacting food today, Anthony and Rob have built a highly-scalable concept with an incredibly loyal following,” said Adam Waglay, who co-founded Butterfly alongside Dustin Beck. “We look forward to helping Modern Market share its commitment to delicious, healthy, clean food at an accessible price point with an ever-expanding national audience.”

Mr. Beck added: “Modern Market’s innovative menu, emphasis on convenience and ability to meet any dietary need result in a concept with immense, broad appeal and significant room to grow. We believe that Modern Market’s offering is increasingly representative of the way that modern restaurant-goers prefer to eat, and we’re excited to support Anthony and Rob in leading the charge in the fast casual space.”

“Butterfly brings years of industry experience and knowhow to the table. We are thrilled to partner with Adam, Dustin and the rest of the Butterfly team as Modern Market moves toward its next phase of growth,” said Anthony Pigliacampo and Rob McColgan, Co-CEOs of Modern Market. “We’re confident that Butterfly’s deep expertise in fast casual and connectivity throughout the broader food sector will help us to expand and to further our stated mission of serving amazing, healthy food to as many people as possible.”

Kirkland & Ellis and Davis Wright Tremaine acted as legal advisors to Butterfly and Modern Market, respectively. Piper Jaffray acted as financial advisor to Modern Market.

About Butterfly:
Butterfly Equity (“Butterfly”) is a Los Angeles, California based private equity firm specializing in the food sector, spanning the entire food value chain from “seed to fork” via four target verticals: agriculture & aquaculture, food & beverage products, food distribution and foodservice. Butterfly aims to generate attractive investment returns through deep industry specialization, a unique approach to sourcing transactions, and leveraging an operations-focused and technology-driven approach to value creation.

About Modern Market:
Modern Market is a farm-to-table fast casual restaurant company that operates restaurants across Colorado, Texas, Arizona, D.C. and Maryland serving healthy, high-quality, sustainably-sourced, scratch-made fare at an attractive price point. Modern Market’s menu features a variety of protein-centric plates and bowls, garden fresh salads, toasted sandwiches and brick oven pizzas served in a comfortable and highly-convenient format well-suited to meet the rapidly-changing demands of the modern restaurant consumer. The company was founded in 2009 by Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Anthony Pigliacampo and Rob McColgan and is based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.modernmarket.com.