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Nutrition Capital Network summarizes mergers & acquisitions and investments in the nutrition, natural product, health & wellness, and green product sectors.
NCN News for January 19, 2012
Transactions
Sara Lee Acquires Luxury Tea Brand
Savoury Flavours of the U.K. Joins Frutarom Family
Naturex Buys Polish Pectin Specialist
Beanitos Raises Funds From 2x and Sweet Leaf
Bradmer Invests in Sustainable Coffee Roaster
UPG Buys Pet Grooming Products
HBC Veterans Acquire Organic Soap Company
Sahale Snacks Receives Follow On Investment
PACT Apparel is First Acquisition for Revelry Brands
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods Raises Capital
Sterling Group Acquires Fourth DuPont Business
LFE Capital Invests in Fitness on Request
Sara Lee Acquires Luxury Tea Brand
Sara Lee Corp. (Utrecht, The Netherlands) has acquired Tea Forté (Concord, Mass.), a competitor in the luxury tea category, for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2003 by former Museum of Modern Art designer Peter Hewitt, the teas come in a distinctive signature pyramid shaped infuser and packaging. Tea Forté posted revenues of $12 million in 2011 and is sold in leading hotels, restaurants and luxury retailers internationally. Earlier this year, Sara Lee announced plans to divide into two publicly traded, pure-play entities: one focused on meats in North America and the other focused on the international coffee and tea market. The acqusition comes as Sara Lee prepares to spin off its coffee and tea business in the first half of calendar year 2012.
Savoury Flavours of the U.K. Joins Frutarom Family
Frutarom Industries Ltd. (Haifa, Israel) has acquired British company Savoury Flavours (Holding) Ltd. (SFL) and its subsidiaries for approximately $5.88 million. SFL grew revenues 28% to approximately $6.6 million for the 12 months ended September. 30, 2011. Founded in 1999, SFL develops, manufactures, and markets savory flavors, seasoning compounds, marinades and sauces, with a focus on snacks and convenience foods. SFL's production site is located close to EAFI (acquired by Frutarom on February 1, 2011), which also makes savory products. Frutarom's global savory activities have increased following the acquisition of Nesse, Gewurzmuller and Ch.Hansen, acquired by Frutarom in 2006, 2007 and 2009, respectively, and the acquisition of EAFI, the savory activities of Rieber and of Ch. Hansen and FSI in 2011.
Naturex Buys Polish Pectin Specialist
Naturex (Avignon, France), a global manufacturer of natural ingredients for the food, nutrition, and personal care industries, has acquired Pektowin, a Polish company specializing in apple pectins and fruit and vegetable juice concentrates. Completion is subject to approval by the Polish Ministry of the Treasury. This follows the Fall 2011 purchase of Burgundy Botanical Extracts and is in line with Naturex’s strategy to accelerate international development. Pektowin generates one third of its sales in Poland and two thirds in Russia and other Eastern European countries. For the nine months ended Nov. 30, 2011, Naturex had revenues of €191.2 million, up 12% over the prior year’s comparable period. The firm’s acquisition history includes the rosemary extract business of RFI Ingredients and Hauser, Pure World Inc. plant extracts, Hammer Pharma, HP Botanicals, Chart Corp., and Berkem.
Beanitos Raises Funds From 2x and Sweet Leaf
Beanitos brand bean chips has received an investment from 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners (2x Partners). Managing partners Sharon Kieffer and Andy Whitman joined the company's board of directors. Sweet Leaf Tea founder and former CEO Clayton Christopher also invested and joined the board. According to SPINS data cited by the company, Beanitos is the #1 growth brand in sales dollars and product volume in the corn chips, tortilla chips and all other snacks categories. Based in Austin, Texas, the company was launched in 2010.
Bradmer Invests in Sustainable Coffee Roaster
Bradmer Foods, a consumer focused private equity and venture capital fund, has made an investment in Chesapeake Bay Roasting Co. (CBRC, Crofton, Md.). Adam Borden, Bradmer’s managing director, joined the executive team of CBRC as chief operating officer. Founded in 2002, CBRC uses roasting technologies that lower carbon footprint by nearly 80% compared to traditional roasters, according to its website. The company also pledges 2% of sales to its H2O Initiative for restoring Chesapeake Bay. Other Bradmer investments are Adina for Life, Blue Horizon Wild, Sambazon, and Organic To Go.
UPG Buys Pet Grooming Products
United Pet Group (UPG, Cincinnati, Ohio), a subsidiary of Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (Madison, Wis.), has completed the acquisition of FURminator from HKW Capital Partners III, LP and other shareholders. Founded in 2002 and with annual revenues of nearly $40 million, FURminator markets professional quality dog and cat grooming items, including a patented de-shedding tool. The acquisition confers “global leadership… in the large and growing $200 million dog and cat grooming category," according to Dave Lumley, CEO of Spectrum Brands, a global consumer products company with net sales of approximately $3.2 billion. UPG had fiscal 2011 net sales of $579 million.
HBC Veterans Acquire Organic Soap Company
Sensibility Soaps (Beaver Falls, Pa.), an organic personal care manufacturer, has been acquired by Renewal2 and a team of veteran consumer product executives. The new company, renamed Sensible Organics, aims to become the leading custom product development and contract manufacturer of certified natural and organic personal care products. Sensible Organics has a library of innovative natural and organic formulations; it will also expand its chemical-free personal care brand, Nourish Food for Healthy Skin, currently distributed in Whole Foods, GNC and other retailers. Rick Ruffolo was appointed CEO and president. His retail executive experience includes Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson, Bath & Body Works and Yankee Candle. Joining the board is Rob Robillard, formerly worldwide general manager of Kiehl’s and SVP of marketing for L’Oreal Paris.
Sahale Snacks Receives Follow On Investment
Palladium Equity Partners, LLC has made a follow on investment in Sahale Snacks (Seattle, Wash.). Terms were not disclosed, but Palladium has held a significant minority stake in Sahale Snacks since 2007. Sahale Snacks offers premium, natural snack mixes that combine whole nuts with preservative-free fruits and flavors like orange blossom honey, lemongrass, or vanilla bean. "Sahale's highly-differentiated offerings place it in a strong position to capture significant opportunities in the fast-growing $3.6 billion market for snack nuts and seeds," said Yue Guan, vice president of Palladium."The company has more than doubled in size since our initial investment, and we expect substantially more growth.” Sahale was represented by Partnership Capital Growth Advisors (PCGA), a boutique investment bank that focuses exclusively on the healthy, active and sustainable living marketplace. PCGA is NCN’s Investment Banking Partner and co-presented the Health & Wellness Investor Forum at NCN IX in Fall 2011.
PACT Apparel is First Acquisition for Revelry Brands
Revelry Brands (Boulder, Colo.) has purchased PACT Apparel Inc. (Berkeley) in its first acquisition since being founded in 2009. PACT makes premium organic cotton basics that offer consumers sustainably manufactured products connected to social and environmental causes. The acquisition "extends our reach into LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) consumer categories," said Brendan Synnott, founder of Revelry Brands. Synnott co-founded the granola company Bear Naked in 2002, which was acquired by Kellogg in 2007. Revelry's other investments include Only Natural Pet Store, EVOL Foods, Siggi's Dairy, and Data Garden.
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods Raises Capital
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods & Oils (Winnipeg) has secured growth and working capital from White Road Investments and re-investment from Avrio Ventures. The vertically integrated hemp food manufacturer will use funds to strengthen its supply chain to meet growing demand. White Road Investments was founded by Gary Erickson, the owner of Clif Bar & Company; other investments include Big Tree Farms, Public Bikes, Honest Kitchen, Guayaki and Wild Planet Foods. Founded in 1998, Manitoba Harvest has been on Canada’s Profit 100 list of the fastest growing businesses for four of the past five years. Manitoba Harvest was a presenter at the NCN II meeting in 2008 and Avrio is an NCN Cornerstone Investor.
Sterling Group Acquires Fourth DuPont Business
The Sterling Group’s affiliated investment fund, Sterling Group Partners III, LP, has acquired Liqui-Box Corp. (Worthington, Ohio) from DuPont. Liqui-Box is a supplier of bag-in-box flexible packaging to the global dairy, beverage and bulk food markets. The packaging is primarily used in the foodservice industry to package dairy mix for milkshakes and coffee drinks, fountain beverage syrup and pumpable liquid foods such as food concentrates and sauces. The acquisition is Sterling's third investment in its third fund, an $820 million fund raised in 2010. Liqui-Box is the fourth business Sterling has acquired from DuPont.
LFE Capital Invests in Fitness on Request
LFE Capital has made an investment in Fitness On Request (Twin Cities, Minn.). According to LFE, the company manufactures and sells the fitness industry’s first interactive, large screen high-definition, on-demand video technology for health clubs, corporate wellness centers, hotels, multi-family housing complexes, military bases, and senior care centers. The courses, ranging from yoga to kickboxing, can be scheduled by the club, pre-booked by clients online, or launched "on-demand" via the company's proprietary touch screen kiosk.
NCN News January 5, 2012
Transaction Headlines
Annie’s Files for IPO
BrightFarms Raises $4.3 Million
WellnessFX Garners $4 Million in Second Round
Rooibee Red Tea Raises $1 Million
$13.5 Million in Growth Capital for Cooking.com
Tasti D-Lite Acquires Planet Smoothie
MegaFood and Innate Response Receive Investment
Blount Fine Foods Acquires Cape Cod Chowder
Brynwood Buys Kretschmer Wheat Germ Brand From Quaker
Bella Petrella to Acquire Advanced Nutritional Solutions
Online Fitness Marketplace Attracts Seed Monies
NCN Transaction Database Shows Active Year in 2011
Review of NCN IX: Fall 2011 Investor Meeting
Annie’s Files for IPO
Annie's Inc., (Berkeley, Calif.), a maker of natural and organic pasta meals, snacks and condiments, has filed for an IPO aiming to raise $100 million. The nutrition industry veteran, which was founded in 1989 and has a rabbit for its logo, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BNNY. In 1995 the company generated $3.6 million in a direct public offering, putting coupons in boxes of mac and cheese to let customers know they were raising money. In 2002, Solera Capital acquired a majority interest in Annie's Homegrown for $20 million. Revenues in Annie’s fiscal year 2011 increased to $117.6 million from $65.6 million in fiscal 2007, a 16% compound annual growth rate. Annie’s was a presenting company at Nutrition Capital Network’s fall investor meeting in San Francisco in 2009.
Hydroponic Grower Raises $4.3 Million
BrightFarms Inc. (New York, N.Y.) has completed a $4.3 million Series A equity financing round. NGEN Partners led the investment, with Emil Capital Partners and BrightFarms founder Ted Caplow participating. BrightFarms finances, builds and operates hydroponic rooftop greenhouses at supermarkets, eliminating time, distance and cost from the produce supply chain. Proceeds will be used for greenhouse construction. “The company will lower the costs of agriculture, transportation and water, the three major cost components of food production. They will disintermediate the supply chain and provide healthier and tastier food for the consumer,” said Peter Grubstein, managing director of NGEN Partners.
WellnessFX Garners $4 Million in Second Round
Health startup WellnessFX (San Francisco) has secured $4 million in series B funding led by new investor Javelin Venture Partners. Existing investors Floodgate and Voyager Capital also participated. The financing comes as WellnessFX is transitioning from beta mode to commercialization, starting in California. WellnessFX is an online personalized wellness service that allows individuals to measure and improve their health by combining diagnostic tools and medical research with one-on-one expert consultations.
Rooibee Red Tea Raises $1 Million
Rooibee Red Tea (Louisville, Ky.) has issued $1 million in Series A preferred stock. Funds will be used to accelerate expansion through its national broker Presence Marketing/Dynamic Presence and distribution partners UNFI and KeHe. Rooibee Red Tea makes certified organic bottled rooibos tea, or red bush tea, which is naturally caffeine-free. The traditional herbal beverage comes from South Africa and has gained popularity as an alternative beverage in the U.S. in recent years. Rooibee’s Watermelon Mint flavored tea won the 2011 North American Tea Championship’s Ready-to-Drink-Flavored/Sweetened category.
$13.5 Million in Growth Capital for Cooking.com
BIA Digital Partners II LP has headed up a $13.5 million growth capital financing for Cooking.com Inc. (Marina del Rey, Calif.), consisting of subordinated debt and a new round of preferred equity. Azure Capital Partners, the company’s lead equity investor, also participated. Proceeds will be used to grow the company’s flagship website and to build out its “Powered By Cooking.com” enterprise-level e-commerce solution. Damien Dovi, a partner at BIA DP, has joined the board of directors as an observer. Cooking.com operates several branded websites, including Rachael Ray Store, Paula Deen Store, Calphalon Store, Betty Crocker Store, and Pillsbury Store.
Tasti D-Lite Acquires Planet Smoothie
Tasti D-Lite (Franklin, Tenn.), a lower-calorie frozen dessert chain, has acquired Planet Smoothie LLC, a 100-unit franchise, from Petrus Brands (Atlanta). The transaction “will provide both brands an opportunity to increase the scale of the combined store network as well as sales at the store level,” said Jim Amos, CEO of Tasti D-Lite. New franchisees will have the option to own and operate in a co-branded store. Planet Smoothie, which opened in 1995, contributed $25 million to Petrus’s $75 million in 2010 revenues, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Petrus also owns Shane’s Rib Shack and in April 2011 launched Planet Living, a juice, frozen yogurt and low calorie smoothie franchise. Tasti D-Lite, which was founded in 1987 and has 170 locations, is majority owned by Snow Phipps Group LLC.
MegaFood and Innate Response Receive Investment
The MegaFood and Innate Response (Derry, N.H.) brands of whole food nutritional supplements (owned by BioSan Laboratories Inc.) have received an investment from 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners. Andrew Whitman, managing partner at 2x Partners, has joined the company's board and will work closely with CEO Robert Craven and the management team. 2x Partners joins majority investor The Riverside Company and owner and former CEO Carl Jackson, who remains a board member. Also joining the board is Bob Burke, founder and principal of Natural Products Consulting Institute and an industry venture partner with 2x Partners. MegaFood is a retail brand, while Innate Response is sold in the practitioner channel.
Blount Fine Foods Acquires Cape Cod Chowder
Blount Fine Foods (Fall River, Mass.), a manufacturer of hand-crafted artisan soups and gourmet dips, sauces and salads, has acquired the Cape Cod Chowder Company (Marion, Mass.). Terms of the asset purchase were not disclosed. Cape Cod Chowder is a regionally distributed manufacturer of high quality fresh and frozen soups, dips and spreads. Blount Fine Foods is the largest manufacturer of lobster bisque in America, with production facilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Florida.
Brynwood Buys Wheat Germ Brand From Quaker
Sun Country Foods Inc., a newly formed portfolio company of Brynwood Partners VI LP, has acquired the Kretschmer wheat germ brand and manufacturing facility from The Quaker Oats Company. Sun Country Foods purchased the rights to the Kretschmer brand in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Terms were not disclosed. Sun Country Foods will be headquartered in Boston, but its manufacturing facility will remain in Manhattan, Kan. Kretschmer is the largest wheat germ brand in the United States. Brynwood VI also owns the Balance Bar Company, which it acquired from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2009.
Bella Petrella to Acquire Advanced Nutritional Solutions
Publicly traded Bella Petrella's Holdings Inc. (Orlando, Fla.) has agreed to purchase Advanced Nutritional Solutions LLC (Odessa, Fla.), a specialist in marketing and selling healthy food products to hospitals, assisted living facilities, large institutional customers and mass market retailers. Bella Petrella was scheduled to acquire the company for restricted common stock equal to $100,000. First year revenues for ANS were expected to be more than $6 million, with the second 12 months exceeding $13.5 million. Mark Ballas, founder of ANS, will become president of the wholly owned subsidiary. Bella Petrella produces reduced-acid pasta sauces, salsas and pizza sauce marketed as diabetic friendly and suitable for those with acid reflux; its unaudited revenues for the quarter ended November 30, 2011 were $673,500.
Online Fitness Marketplace Attracts Seed Monies
GAIN Fitness (San Francisco) has raised $650,000 in seed funding from InterWest Partners, Seraph Group and individual investors. GAIN apps deliver personalized workouts across mobile devices and the web. The startup also announced a product scheduled for January release that will create a marketplace where professional trainers can sell fitness multimedia packs. “On one side, you've got fitness experts and personal trainers, who are fantastic but unfortunately inaccessible to a majority of the world's population,” said Nicholas Gammell, GAIN co-founder and CEO. “On the other side are individuals who all want to be fit but have their own unique starting points, body types, aspirations and schedules…. Time flexibility and workout variety are the top two needs of fitness consumers which are currently underserved by this $120 billion industry.”
NCN News for December 5, 2011
Transaction Headlines
Naturex of France Acquires Burgundy Botanical
Hain Celestial Buys British Chilled Food Manufacturer
FMC Agrees to Purchase Chilean Ingredients Manufacturer
Startup 100Plus Attracts Funding
The Riverside Company Acquires BioSan
Craftsvilla.com Receives Funding from Nexus and Lightspeed
Iranex Merges Entities to Form Ingredient Supplier Nexira
Massive Health Launches Nutrition App
Unilever Sells Six Brands to B&G
Health and Beauty Hub Wahanda Raises Series B Round
Nature’s Bioceuticals Acquires Nutrition Formulas
Starbucks Pays $30 Million for Evolution Fresh
GE Capital Provides $20 Million to Zoës Kitchen
Innophos Acquires mineral supplier Kelatron
Prolacta Bioscience Secures Series D Funding
Naturex of France Acquires Burgundy Botanical
Naturex (Avignon, France), a global supplier of plant based ingredients, has acquired Burgundy Botanical Extracts, a manufacturer and supplier with production sites in France and Spain. Burgundy Botanical generated revenue of €14 million over the last 12 months; flagship products include grapeseed and cranberry extracts, a patented hibiscus extract for urinary infections, and Iridoforce, an extract of harpagophytum for the prevention of joint disease. Naturex’s annual consolidated 2010 revenue was €226.3 million, up more than 20% compared to the prior year.
Hain Celestial Buys British Chilled Food Manufacturer
The Hain Celestial Group Inc. (Melville, N.Y.), one of North America’s largest natural and organic product companies, has acquired Daniels Group (Leeds, U.K.) for around $230 million. Daniels Group, which generated sales of approximately $280 million in its last fiscal year, makes and markets natural chilled foods; its leading brands are New Covent Garden Soup Co., Johnson's Juice Co., and the Farmhouse Fare brand of hot desserts. In the United Kingdom, the chilled/fresh category represents over half of food sales and is the fastest-growing category in the grocery sector, said Hain Celestial, which also owns the Linda McCartney and Daily Bread brands in the U.K. Daniels was previously owned by publicly traded SATS Ltd., a provider of gateway services and food solutions in Singapore. Hain updated its fiscal 2012 annual guidance to $1.455 billion - $1.480 billion in sales, reflecting both the Daniels acquisition and the recent purchase of Europe's Best in Canada.
FMC Agrees to Purchase Chilean Ingredients Manufacturer
FMC Corporation (Philadelphia) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire South Pole Biogroup Ltda. (Santiago, Chile), a natural color and specialty nutrition ingredients manufacturer. The acquisition expands FMC's portfolio of naturally sourced specialty products used in the food, beverage, personal care, nutrition and pharmaceutical markets. The natural color market is expected to grow beyond $1 billion in the next four years, said FMC. In 2010, FMC had annual sales of approximately $3.1 billion.
Startup 100Plus Attracts Funding
100Plus (San Francisco), a personalized health prediction startup, has received initial funding from Founders Fund and Peter Thiel, a managing partner at Founders Fund and co-founder and former CEO of PayPal. 100Plus is developing an interactive health application that uses large clinical datasets to create algorithms showing personalized predictions of future health. 100Plus will also show users how they compare to people like them in terms of health and habits and use game mechanics to encourage healthier behavior. 100Plus plans a beta launch to consumers in mid-2012.
The Riverside Company Acquries BioSan
BioSan Laboratories Inc. (Derry, N.H.), a vertically integrated manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of whole food nutritional supplements doing business as MegaFood and Innate Response Formulas has been acquired by private equity firm The Riverside Company. Founded in 1973, BioSan’s products are sold to natural food stores; supplement retailers; small, independent retailers; distributors; and directly to health care practitioners. Investment bank MHT Partners advised BioSan.
Craftsvilla.com Receives Funding from Nexus and Lightspeed
Craftsvilla.com of India has received early-stage funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Craftsvilla is an online store featuring handcrafted apparel, metalware, jewelry and home furnishings. It favors products made with natural dyes and organic materials where possible, in addition to minimal chemicals. The investment will allow the e-commerce retailer to expand by investing in personnel, technology, back-end supply chain and sourcing of a larger variety of products across India. Craftsvilla is wholly owned by Kribha Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd. According to its website, Craftsvilla’s vision is “to create an Indian global brand allowing designers, artisans and small businesses to connect with customers.”
Iranex Merges Entities to Form Ingredient Supplier Nexira
Iranex Group (Rouen, France), a supplier of acacia gum and nutritional ingredients, has merged two of its companies – CNI (Colloïdes Naturels International) and Bio Serae Laboratoires – to form a new entity called Nexira. The new company offers natural ingredients and extracts, including emulsifiers, texturizing agents and actives for weight management, antioxidants, joint health and stress relief. Nexira generates over €83 million in revenue, 90% of which is from exports (the group received France’s top exporter award in 2007) and is targeting €120 million by 2015.
Massive Health Launches Nutrition App
After raising $2.25 million in seed funding earlier in the year, Masssive Health (San Francisco) has introduced a nutrition app for the iPhone called The Eatery, which tracks and analyzes eating patterns. It involves snapping a picture of what you eat and using a portion tool to indicate serving size. The Eatery then sends the picture to other app users, who help rate the meal. After a few days of photo feedback, users get insight into what time of day they eat the healthiest, where they eat the best and worst, and whether habits are improving, etc., the company said. Massive Health is also working on projects to address chronic disease through diet and exercise. Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, Greylock Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Felicis Ventures, and others participated in the seed round.
Unilever Sells Six Brands to B&G
B&G Foods Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.), has agreed to buy six brands from Unilever plc for around $325 million in cash. The brands include Mrs. Dash salt-free seasonings, Molly McButter fat-free butter sprinkles, Sugar Twin calorie-free sweetener, Baker's Joy baking spray, Static Guard spray and Kleen Guard furniture polish. Unilever had acquired the brands earlier this year as part of its purchase of Alberto Culver Co. The B&G portfolio includes Cream of Wheat cereal, Accent, Emeril’s Original and Brer Rabbit molasses.
Health and Beauty Hub Wahanda Raises Series B Round
Wahanda, the U.K.-based online website that houses deals offered by spas, wellness centers, gyms, salons and other health and beauty venues, has raised £3.5 million in a Series B investment round led by Fidelity Growth Partners Europe. The site also offers an affiliate program and Groupon-style “MobDeals,” which it sells only if enough people apply to buy. Lopo Champalimaud and Salim Mitha, former executives with lastminute.com and Yahoo, respectively, founded Wahanda in 2008.
Nature’s Bioceuticals Acquires Nutrition Formulas
Mistral Ventures, Inc. (PINK:MILV) has completed the acquisition of Nature’s Bioceuticals, Inc. (Cape Coral, Fla.) in what stock analysts described as similar to a reverse merger. Nature’s Bioceuticals develops and acquires the rights to natural medicine formulas for specific medical conditions. Since the acquisition, Nature’s Bioceuticals has announced the purchase or agreements to acquire formulas related to kidney function, weight loss, colds and flu, diabetes, and sinusitis.
Starbucks Pays $30 Million for Evolution Fresh
Starbucks has acquired fresh juice company Evolution Fresh Inc. (San Bernadino, Calif.) for $30 million. Founded in 1993, Evolution uses high pressure pasteurization to process its juices without heat, thereby preserving nutritional content. The acquisition is viewed as a foundation for Starbuck’s aspirations in the nutrition industry. “Our intent is to build a national Health and Wellness brand leveraging our scale, resources and premium product expertise,” stated Channel Development President Jeff Hansberry. Prior transactions in the fresh squeezed juice category include Naked Juice, acquired by PepsiCo from North Castle Partners for an undisclosed sum in 2007; and Odwalla, which was acquired by Coca-Cola in 2001 for $181 million. Evolution Fresh founder Jimmy Rosenberg, who also started Naked Juice, will remain with the company.
GE Capital Provides $20 Million to Zoës Kitchen
GE Capital, Franchise Finance has provided a $20 million credit facility to Brentwood Associates’ portfolio company Zoe’s Kitchen USA, LLC (Birmingham, Ala.). “GE Capital offers private equity firms access to capital and extensive restaurant industry experience,” said Rahul Aggarwal, Brentwood’s managing director. “Because of their expertise, they were able to deliver a flexible structure to finance our plans for growing Zoës Kitchen.” Founded in 1995, Zoe’s Kitchen is a fast casual restaurant chain offering made-from-scratch sandwiches, salads and roll-ups. It can be found in six states and is comprised of 43 company owned and 12 franchised units.
Innophos Acquires Mineral Supplier Kelatron
Innophos Holdings Inc. (Cranbury, N.J.), a producer of specialty phosphate products for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, oral care and industrial markets, has acquired Kelatron Corporation (Ogden, Utah), a manufacturer of bioactive mineral nutrients.
The acquisition is structured as a stock purchase and valued at $21 million. Kelatron's holding company, KI Acquisition Inc., is a portfolio company of Hadley Capital and First Analysis. “The acquisition of Kelatron represents a perfect fit with our strategy of targeting high quality bolt-on acquisitions that add specialty ingredient product technologies,” said Randy Gress, Chairman and CEO of Innophos.
Prolacta Bioscience Secures Series D Funding
Prolacta Bioscience (Monrovia, Calif.), a life science company which provides human milk fortifier (HMF) made from 100% human breast milk for critically ill, premature infants, has secured Series D funding from Health Evolution Partners (HEP). Funding will be used primarily to fund a second facility and support growth of Prolacta’s sales organization. Prolact+ H2MF is for infants weighing two pounds 12 ounces or less at birth and can only be administered in a hospital setting.
NCN News for October 24, 2011
Transaction Headlines
Quench Raises $30 Million
Veggie Grill Raises $11 Million
Joint Juice Acquires Premier Nutrition
Dole Buys Into Blueberries
Big Red Buys Thomas Kemper Soda Co.
Hain Buys Canadian Frozen Fruit & Veg Line from Smucker
Synergy Flavors Acquires Sethness Greenleaf
Pacific Seafood Buys Coast Seafoods
Quench Secures $30 Million in Growth Financing
Quench (King of Prussia, Pa.), a provider of filtered water coolers, has closed nearly $30 million in equity and debt financing to help support additional acquisitions and organic growth. Element Partners, Virgin Green Fund, Douglas Brown and other existing investors were joined by new backers ORIX Venture Finance, Advent-Morro Equity Partners, Potomac Energy Fund and The Pohlad Companies. "This funding will accelerate our growth in key markets across the country, as we continue to capitalize on the trend of businesses switching to filtered water coolers from traditional plastic jug water coolers,” said Quench CEO Anthony Ibarguen.
Veggie Grill Raises $11 Million in New Equity Round
Veggie Grill (Santa Monica, Calif.), a restaurant chain serving vegan versions of American comfort foods, has completed its third round of equity funding. The $11 million common stock funding came from current shareholders as well as new investors. CEO Greg Dollarhyde, who came on board in April with a mandate to grow the Veggie Grill brand with co-founders T.K. Pillan and Kevin Boylan, confirmed that the company is on track to double its business within the next 15 months. As part of the raise, Veggie Grill has partnered with Brentwood Associates, a private equity firm experienced in restaurant ventures. Brentwood has also agreed to supply additional funds within 18 months. Veggie Grill recently opened its seventh location; restaurants in Washington and Oregon are forecast to open during the first half of 2012.
Joint Juice Acquires Sports Nutrition Brand
Joint Juice Inc. (San Francisco, Calif.), a maker of joint health nutrition products, has acquired the Premier Nutrition brand (Carlsbad, Calif.) and its assets. Founded in 1997, Premier Nutrition offers high protein nutrition products, including RTD shakes, bars, powders and cookies. "With the acquisition of the Premier Nutrition brand, we are now actively competing in the large and growing Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss category,” said David Ritterbush, CEO of Joint Juice. Premier Nutrition’s products can be found at Costco, Sam's Club, and grocery and specialty stores in the U.S. and Canada. Joint Juice was an NCN II presenting company in 2008.
Dole Strengthens Berry Operations
Dole Food Company (Westlake Village, Calif.) has acquired all of the capital stock of the parent of fresh blueberry company SunnyRidge Farm (Winter Haven, Fla.). Dole’s existing fresh and frozen berry operations have previously focused on strawberries. “Blueberries and blackberries are some of the fastest growing items in the produce category,” said David DeLorenzo, president and CEO of Dole, which reported 2010 net revenues of $6.9 billion.
Big Red Buys Boutique Soda Company
Big Red Inc. (Austin, Texas) has acquired the Thomas Kemper Soda Company (Portland, Ore.) in a sale orchestrated by Kemper investor First Beverage Group. Big Red markets Big Red, All Sport, NuGrape, Nesbitt’s and other mass-market beverages, ranking it among the top 10 beverage companies in the United States. Thomas Kemper Soda makes vintage and natural varieties of craft-brewed soda. Pyramid Breweries Inc. sold Thomas Kemper Soda in 2007 for $3.1 million to The Kemper Company, a new company formed by Adventure Funds of Portland, Ore.
Hain Celestial Acquires Canadian Brand From Smucker
The Hain Celestial Group Inc. (Melville, N.Y.), a leading natural and organic products company, has announced the acquisition of the assets and business of the Europe's Best brand of natural, frozen fruit and vegetable products in Canada through its Hain Celestial Canada subsidiary. The brand was acquired from Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of The J.M. Smucker Company (Orville, Ohio). Terms were not disclosed. Smucker acquired Europe’s Best in 2008, at which time it was expected to add some $70 million in annual sales. “Our entry into this growing $385 million Canadian category of frozen fruits and vegetables complements our product offerings while providing us with a new category for potential growth, " said Irwin Simon, president and CEO of Hain Celestial. In fiscal 2011 Hain Celestial had sales of $981 million in North America and $149 million in Europe.
Synergy Flavors Finds Fit With Sethness
Synergy Flavors (Wauconda, Ill.), a member of the Irish-based Carbery Group, an international food ingredients and cheese company, has acquired Sethness Greenleaf (Chicago), a 130-year old manufacturer of flavors for the food and beverage industry. "This acquisition provides additional scale to Synergy in important Beverage, Dairy and Bakery markets," said Roderick W. Sowders, president and CEO of Synergy Flavors. The acquisition of Sethness Greenleaf follows Synergy's acquisition of natural essence and extract manufacturer Sensus in September of this year.
Pacific Seafood Buys Coast Seafoods
Pacific Shellfish Company (Portland, Ore.), a subsidiary of the Pacific Seafood Group, has acquired Coast Seafoods Company (South Bend, Wash.), including a sales office, hatchery and farming operations. Through the purchase of Coast Seafoods, Pacific also acquired a 50% interest in Kona Coast Shellfish of Hawaii and Penn Cove Shellfish of Coupeville, Wash. Coast Seafoods, which specializes in oyster and clams, has been a shellfish vendor partner with Pacific Seafood for a number of years. The Coast Seafood management team will oversee the integrated operations of the firm’s combined shellfish business.
