Brynwood Partners – through its seventh fund, Brynwood Partners VII LP – has signed an agreement to acquire Sunny Delight Beverages from Winter Street Opportunities Fund, an investment fund managed by JW Childs Associates. The Sunny Delight brand was acquired by JW Childs from Procter & Gamble in 2004. This transaction is expected to close before the end of the first quarter.
Sunny Delight Beverages, with over $400 million in revenues, currently operates four manufacturing facilities in the US. In addition to the Sunny Delight brand, the company also markets the Fruit2O and Veryfine beverage brands. Sunny Delight’s products are distributed through retailers in the US and Canada. The company has approximately 480 employees and is headquartered in Cincinnati (www.sunnyd.com) (www.fruit2o.com) (www.veryfine.com).
According to Brynwood, the 51 year-old Sunny Delight brand is a leading chilled juice drink in the US. “We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Sunny Delight,” said Henk Hartong III, Chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners. “The iconic Sunny Delight brand, with its highly recognizable bottle design, has a loyal customer following and is an important brand for retailers in the US and Canada.”
Brynwood also owns the Harvest Hill Beverage Company which owns the Juicy Juice, Hug and Daily’s brands.
“The buy of Sunny Delight marks Brynwood VII’s second operating platform in the beverage sector and is a significant investment for our firm. The operating and industry knowledge we have gained as a result of our investment in Harvest Hill will be a benefit as we collaboratively work with Sunny Delight’s management team to create long-term shareholder value for our investors,” said Ian MacTaggart, President and COO of Brynwood Partners.
Harvest Hill was bought by Brynwood in June 2014 to acquire the Juicy Juice brand from Nestle USA. In March 2015, Harvest Hill acquired American Beverage Corporation from Wessanen, a publicly-traded food and beverage company based in Holland. With the American Beverage acquisition, Harvest Hill added the Hug juice brand and Daily’s Cocktails brand. Harvest Hill is based in Stamford, CT (www.harvesthill.com).
“While separate operating companies, Sunny Delight and Harvest Hill will explore ways to seek synergies that could benefit both companies,” said Mr. Hartong.
Brynwood Partners is an operationally-focused private equity firm that makes control investments in consumer focused lower middle-market companies. Brynwood Partners has $700 million of capital under management. The firm was founded in 1984 and is based in Greenwich, CT (www.brynwoodpartners.com).
J.W. Childs invests in middle market companies based in North America. Sectors of interest include consumer products, specialty retail and healthcare. The firm was founded in 1995 and is based west of Boston in Waltham, MA (www.jwchilds.com).
Houlihan Lokey Capital (www.hl.com) served as the investment banking advisor to Sunny Delight. Brynwood did not retain an investment banking advisor on this transaction.
© 2016 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 1-14-16
