Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. announced Tuesday that its wholly owned subsidiary, U-Swirl Inc., recently purchased two self-service frozen-yogurt chains.
U-Swirl acquired CherryBerry Enterprises LLC and Yogli Mogli LLC. The purchases closed Friday, the company disclosed in its quarterly investor release Tuesday.
The purchases totaling $7.75 million were financed largely by a $7 million Wells Fargo loan, the company said.
“We believe U-Swirl is well-positioned to become a leading consolidator in the self-serve frozen yogurt segment of the $6 billion away-from-home frozen desserts industry,” Bryan Merryman, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, wrote in a news release.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory reported a 7.5 percent revenue increase to $9.3 million in the quarter that ended Nov. 30. That was up from $8.6 million a year earlier.
Same-store sales at domestic Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchises were unchanged, the company said.
The company saw a 4.9 percent drop in same-store pounds of factory product purchased by stores. The company attributed the decline to the shorter post-Thanksgiving shopping period in 2013.
The company’s stock jumped 3 percent on the news, closing at $12.01 per share Tuesday. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol RMCF.
