Weekly Consumer Headlines 6.25

Hi everyone, Springdale Ventures continues to make progress towards equality and inclusion by officially adding Tiny Organics, a Native American, all women-led baby food company that strives to transform the category filled with sugar-loaded purees for decades to savory-forward, organic, and wholesome vegetables, to its portfolio! I am delighted to share our lead in Tiny Organics’ $11 million series A round publicly, in addition to some notable industry news over the past week:

• Barry Callebaut has reached an agreement to acquire Europe Chocolate Co., a Belgian privately-owned business-to-business manufacturer of chocolate specialties and decorations, which will help expand the group’s value adding specialties capabilities and allow it to cater to the increasing demand of food manufacturers for highly customized specialty chocolate and decorations.

• German public distribution company Brenntag has entered into an agreement to acquire JM Swank, an ingredient distributor serving a variety of food categories, including bakery and snack, meats, pet food, soups, sauces and dressings, and organic, from Platinum Equity, a private equity investor. The deal will double Brenntag’s size in the nutrition business, and create the leading food ingredients and food process chemicals distributor in North America with approximately $1 billion in revenue.

• Once Upon a Farm has acquired Raised Real, a frozen baby food subscription by mail startup, which will help add a frozen direct-to-consumer product line to the company’s lineup. The baby food brand has reportedly reached $30 million in revenue to-date.

• Irish ingredients company Kerry Group has agreed to acquire clean-label, low-sodium preservatives specialist Niacet from private investment firm SK Capital for roughly $1 billion. Niacet, which is expected to reach $220 million in sales in 2021, will become part of Kerry’s global food protection and preservation platform following the deal’s closing in Q3.

• Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire the Meats and Meals business of Kerry Consumer Foods in the United Kingdom and Ireland for approximately $952 million. The purchase amount represents an 8.5x multiple on implied expected standalone EBITDA for 2021. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

• If that multiple above is high, consider this: Canadian confectionery company Yumy Bear that offers a line of low-sugar and vegan gummy will start trading on CSE in July under the symbol “YUMY” with an anticipated $50 million enterprise value, and plans to expand to the U.S. in 2022. The company has less than $1 million in sales right now…

• WM Partners, an Aventura, Fla.-based private equity investment fund focused on the health and wellness industry, has reached an agreement to acquire the Vega business from Danone. Danone acquired the brand in 2017 through its $12.5 billion purchase of WhiteWave Foods, a maker of plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and premium dairy products sold under the Silk, So Delicious, Horizon Organic, Earthbound Farm and Alpro brands.

• Puracy has secured a $6 million line of credit from Gerber Finance to expand its retail network and propel plastic-saving product development on its own terms. The funding comes after the natural household cleaning and personal care brand’s sales reached $30 million last year, buoyed by pandemic-stoked demand for hand sanitizer, hand soap and surface cleaner.

M&A/IPO News:

• Sources said Illinois-based restaurant chain Lou Malnatis, which offers classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza, will be up for sale after reaching $40 million EBITDA, and it is currently working with Morgan Stanley on the deal.

• Another Illinois restaurant Portillo’s will also go public.

• Zevia, which makes a portfolio of zero calorie organic soft drinks, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.

Thank you, and stay tuned with us in July!