MECHANICSBURG, PA – March 2019 – Duck Donuts Franchising Company (“DDFC” or the “Company”), the franchisor operation supporting the Company’s Duck Donuts franchised locations, closes on a credit facility with Centric Bank.
Duck Donuts®, one of the nation’s fastest-growing donut franchises in the U.S., known for serving Warm, Delicious and Made-to-Order! ® donuts, was founded in Duck, North Carolina by Russ DiGilio in 2006. At Duck Donuts, customers can create their own donut combination by choosing from a variety of coatings, toppings and drizzles, including traditional favorites such as chocolate icing with sprinkles and more adventurous creations such as maple icing with bacon. Since the Company began franchising in 2013, it now operates 77 domestic locations across 16 states, and recently opened its first international location in Santiago, Chile. Duck Donuts has an additional 145 contracts across 26 states.
Centric Bank (www.centricbank.com) is headquartered in south central Pennsylvania and remains the leader in organic loan growth in central Pennsylvania. A locally-owned, locally-loaned community bank, Centric provides highly competitive and pro-growth core financial services to businesses, professionals, individuals and families. Centric Bank operates four full-service financial centers in Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill and Hummelstown and Commercial Lending Offices in Doylestown, Devon and Lancaster. With a Five-Star Bauer Financial Rating, Centric Bank, named a Top SBA Lender in the United States, also ranked #1 in approved SBA 7(a) loans in Pennsylvania for banks under $1 billion in assets as of September 30, 2018.
Earlier in 2018, the Company considered raising external private equity to aggressively grow the franchisor’s business operations. However, with Fairmount Partners’ advice, the Company decided to forego the exercise of raising dilutive equity capital until a later date. Instead, the Company, with Fairmount’s assistance, turned to the debt capital markets and secured a credit facility with Centric Bank, consisting of an operating line of credit and an acquisition line of credit. The credit facility provides DDFC with additional access to capital, thus enabling the Company to continue to scale its made-to-order donut franchise into additional U.S. states and international markets.
Commenting on the transaction, DDFC Founder and CEO Russ DiGilio noted, “Centric Bank has been, and continues to be, a loyal supporter of numerous Company franchisees across the United States. We are lucky to count Centric Bank as a strategic capital provider as we scale the Company’s brand, concept and enterprise.”
Fairmount Partners acted as financial advisor to Duck Donuts Franchising Company in the arrangement of the credit facility.
Contact:
Andrew D. Brown
Fairmount Partners 