set up in New Zealand in 1996 when Stallone's Pizza owner Gavin Cook agreed to merge with Eagle Boys to provide an established base in the South Island. Rapid expansion saw the Eagle Boys chain grow to 54 national outlets in the country by early April 2000. In 2000, all New Zealand stores were sold to Restaurant Brands for NZ$28m and converted to Pizza Hut outlets. The company developed an express system, called "Eaglexpress", from 1999 to 2002, to serve two minute "express" pizzas (limited range of four) between 5:30 and 8:00 pm, which was achieved by constantly remaking their four most popular pizzas and keeping them in a warmer for sale. Unsold pizzas were discarded after 30 minutes. From 2002, when the Eaglexpress concept was launched, to 2003, sales at the chain rose by around 40%. The chain came to see the Eaglexpress two-minute pizza service and its drive-through services as a "beachhead" to compete with its biggest fast-food competitors including Hungry Jack's and KFC. 2007 to 2016: NBC Capital years In March 2007, Tom Potter handed his control of Eagle Boys on to NBC Capital, a Queensland-based venture capital group. He retained some shares in the company, and worked in a consultancy role advising the chain on operations for 12 months. By 2008, Potter retained less than 10% of the vote for corporate decision making and was no longer involved in operations. In late 2007, Eagle Boys began trialing an online ordering system and announced plans to enable customers to order online from all of its stores by February 2008. By the end of 2008, the system was fully implemented. In July 2008, Eagle Boys entered into a deal to acquire the Pizza Haven chain across Australia. The deal saw Eagle Boys move into Sydney and South Australia for the first time. Between July 2008 and June 2009, Eagle Boys opened 56 stores—the fastest growth the chain had experienced in its history. In February 2010, Eagle Boys was named in BRW magazine's "Fast Franchise" list for the first time. By March 2011, Eagle Boys had more than 25 stores in Sydney. It had also overtaken Pizza Hut to become the second largest pizza maker in Australia. However, Pizza Hut regained second position by July 2014. CEO Todd Clayton departed Eagle Boys in 2012. He had been in the role since NBC Capital acquired a majority stake in 2007.