Financing

Modern Market acquired by private-equity firm

Investors say the chain's healthful fare is the way 'modern restaurant-goers prefer to eat.'

Modern Market, a 28-unit fast-casual chain focused on healthy meals under $10, has been acquired by a private-equity group that holds a stake in the Lemonade Restaurant Group.

Details of the transaction with Butterfly Equity, a Los Angeles-based investment firm focused on the food sector, were not disclosed.

“We believe Modern Market’s offering is increasingly representative of the way that modern restaurant-goers prefer to eat,” Dustin Beck, one of Butterfly’s founders, said in a statement.

The acquisition will fuel the brand’s expansion, Modern Market executives said.

Anthony Pigliacampo and Rob McColgan founded the Denver-based chain in 2009 and remain co-CEOs. Modern Market serves bowls, sandwiches, salads and brick-oven pizzas, with a focus on special diets and healthful choices.

Butterfly invests in agriculture, food and beverage products, food distribution and foodservice. The firm invested in Lemonade Restaurant Group in 2016.

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