Harvest Hill Beverage Co., backed by private equity firm Brynwood Partners VII L.P., has bought Faribault Foods Inc.’s beverage business for an undisclosed amount.  The deal will help grow the buyer’s existing pouch manufacturing services. Faribault Foods is a private label food supplier based in Minneapolis that manufactures food and beverage products nationwide. The target’s beverage business makes pouch products for juice brands such as Sunny Delight, Back to Nature, and Juicy Juice Splashers. As part of the deal, Harvest Hill will acquire the target’s manufacturing plant in Elk River, Minnesota. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, Harvest Hill is a Brynwood-owned beverage company formed in June 2014 to purchase the Juicy Juice brand from Nestlé USA Inc. Juicy Juice, Little Hug Fruit Barrels, Big Hug Fruit Barrels, Guzzler, Big Burst, and Daily’s Cocktails are among the brands distributed by Harvest Hill. The deal for Faribault’s beverage division is the buyer’s second add-on acquisition, since acquiring American Beverage Corp. from Royal Wessanen in March 2015. Brynwood is a lower middle market private equity firm with more than $725 million in assets under management. The Greenwich, Connecticut firm sold off a group of personal care products to the Village Co. in 2015 through portfolio company High Ridge Brands Co., later selling off the entire company to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $415 million. Brynwood has previously invested in Balance Bar Co., Joseph’s Gourmet Pasta Co., Sunny Delight Beverage Co., and Sun Country Foods Inc. PE firms and strategic buyers have shown a growing interest in beverage companies. Recent beverage-related deals include: Cott Corp.’s (NYSE: COT) agreement to purchase coffee seller S&D Coffee Inc. for $355 million; Kainos Capital’s completed fundraising of a $895 million investment fundto target food and beverage deals; and Danome’s buying of WhiteWave Foods Co., a maker of soy milk brand Silk, for approximately $10 billion.
Food and beverage industry