Private equity firm Apax Partners has agreed to pay Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s Tornante group and his private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners $700 million to acquire Bazooka Candy Brands, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The company includes brands such as Bazooka gum, Ring Pop, Push Pop, Juicy Drop, and Baby Bottle Pop. Bazooka Candy Brands claims it currently sells an estimated 40 million units of chewing gum and sweets every year.
In 2007, Eisner purchased Bazooka Candy Brands through The Tornante Company for around $385 million. At that time, the U.S.-based confectioner’s portfolio also included Topps Cards, which was sold to Fanatics for $500 million approximately a year and a half ago, after Topps lost its exclusive licensing deal with Major League Baseball.
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A source stated that Bazooka Candy Brands’ revenue is up “around 30% year-over-year in 2023.” The revenue growth may be due, in part, to the company’s distribution successes and fragmentation in the non-chocolate confectionery industry that could make Bazooka Candy Brands “something of an acquisition platform” for Apax Partners.
Apax Partners is a British private equity firm headquartered in London. The company also operates out of offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich, and Shanghai. One of the oldest and largest private equity firms operating on an international basis, Apax Partners is ranked as the fifteenth-largest private equity firm in the world. Among its numerous holdings, Apax Partners currently owns several consumer brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Rue 21, and Ole Smoky Distillery.
