New look Boost Juice ready to expand

Franchise chain Boost Juice has restructured, ready for local and international expansion and a stockmarket float. But a recent failed attempt to acquire the Canadian-based Booster Juice chain has delayed a proposed listing at least three years.

Boost founder Janine Allis has been talking about listing Boost Juice for several years. Now she has told the Australian Financial Review that unless there is a reason to list, it will not happen. Had the Canadian acquisition been successful, it would have led to a listing early next year.

The restructured Boost Investment Group is headed by Allis’s husband, executive chairman Jeff Allis. It will be the owner of Boost Juice Bars and Boost International, which owns 12 master franchise licences for countries including Chile, Indonesia, Kuwait and Singapore, and any new acquisitions. Janine Allis remains head of Boost’s retail product division.

The group is scouring the market for acquisitions. Jeff Allis said it had looked at 10 possible targets in the past year and made one locally: retail chain called Salsa. Boost took a 53% stake in the Mexican-style chain, which has just four stores.

Boost expects to make three or four more acquisitions in the 2008 financial year. Boost’s 150 franchised and 27 company-owned stores in Australia turned over $100 million in 2006-07.