Sprout Healthy Vending and Grow Franchise Group announce their strategic joining to create Grow International, LLC. With this merger, the two brands will expand their customer base in the U.S. and further accelerate U.S. and International expansion plans.
"Today we are creating one of the world's largest and fastest growing healthy vending providers, with a clear path to sustaining a business model that affords healthy vending operators with the best opportunity at success," said Chris Wyland, co-founder of Grow Franchise Group, in a prepared statement. "By combining the two brands, we will be able to significantly broaden the scope of machine offerings and our reach in the United States and abroad, further setting us apart from our competitors. The fact is that no other vending company in the country can compete with us on cost, quality and services.”
"Both of our brands have seen high growth and success over the last three and a half years, and with the synergies between our complimentary businesses, it made sense for us to combine our strengths," said Richard Clasby, Sprout Healthy Vending CEO. “As pioneers in the healthy vending industry this merger gives us the scale to create a truly distinguishable offering of the highest quality equipment ensuring operators the best return on investment in the industry.
With the merger and associated factory volume of both brands, Grow International will have the ability to lower equipment costs across the board for past, present and future operators.
Wyland and Clasby will serve as co-CEOs of Grow International, LLC and split day to day management responsibilities. As part of the merger, the two brands will share staff between the Irvine, Calif. headquarters and the recently completed Portland, Ore. facility.
Grow International has added a few other key players and built a bigger public presence recently, as many people suspect, in preparation for its initial public offering sometime in 2014.
