Florida Food Products, a portfolio company of Ardian and MidOcean, has agreed to acquire Javo Beverage Company.
Florida Food Products (FFP) is an extractor, fermenter, blender and packager of vegetable and fruit-based ingredients used in beverages; processed and cured meats; soups, sauces, and dressings; and pet food. The company, led by CEO Jim Holdreith, was founded in 1954 and is headquartered near Orlando in Eustis, Florida.
Javo is an extractor of clean-label coffee, tea, and botanicals with a focus on beverage applications. The company’s products are sold to various consumer brands, manufacturers, and restaurants and can be used in a range of applications including infused alcohol, cold-brew, coffee, ice cream, energy drinks, protein, sauces, and bakery items.
In addition to its Javo-branded products, the company also provides private-label products for convenience stores, coffee roasters, and quick-service restaurants. Javo was founded in 2001 and has facilities in Vista, California and Indianapolis, Indiana.
”Our investment in Javo is a testament to the differentiated capabilities and resources that Ardian has brought to the FFP platform,” said Mr. Holdreith. “As we move forward, the FFP team will be able to leverage further our extensive experience in the ingredient sector to efficiently evaluate new opportunities and be the buyer of choice for natural ingredient businesses.”
The buy of Javo is the third add-on acquisition closed by FFP in the past seven months and follows the November 2021 buy of Comax Manufacturing, a New York-based provider of more than 1,000 SKUs of natural flavor ingredients; and T-Bev, an Oregon-based maker of natural and organic caffeine, teas, sweeteners, and other functional botanical extracts. FFP’s revenues have more than doubled over the last year and now total almost $300 million.
Ardian acquired a majority equity interest in FFP from MidOcean in September 2021 at an enterprise valuation of $1 billion, with MidOcean maintaining a minority equity interest in the business. MidOcean acquired FFP in September 2018 from Kainos Capital.
“Javo is an impressive organization, which will play a critical role in our continued expansion in the beverage category,” said Christopher Sand, a managing director at Ardian. “We intend to continue our strategy of building the world’s largest independent provider of clean label ingredients by expanding our portfolio of best-in-class products, acquiring additional clean label ingredient businesses, and investing in our talented team, advanced facilities, and innovative pipeline.”
Paris-headquartered Ardian (formerly Axa Private Equity) was founded in 1996 by Dominique Senequier and is one of the largest European-headquartered private equity firms with more than 780 employees and $114 billion of assets under management. Since expanding into the United States in 2019, Ardian’s U.S. buyout team has invested more than $1.2 billion of equity in three platforms.
“The addition of Javo to the FFP platform is a continuation of the exceptional growth that we have seen since our initial investment in 2018, and further solidifies our position in natural beverage ingredients and solutions,” said Steven Loeffler, a principal at MidOcean. “Building upon the solid foundation we have established over the last four years, FFP is poised to dramatically increase its scale as it launches exciting new systems and expands into a series of high-growth adjacencies. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Jim Holdrieth, the FFP management team, and Ardian as we progress in this exciting new phase for FFP.”
MidOcean invests in middle-market companies that are active in the business and consumer services sectors. In September 2018, the firm held a final close of its latest fund, MidOcean Partners V LP, at its hard cap of $1.2 billion in limited partner commitments. The new fund was oversubscribed and closed above its original $1 billion target. MidOcean was founded in 2003 and is based in New York City.
Houlihan Lokey was the financial advisor to Javo on this transaction which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | June 29, 2022
