News

Brynwood Partners has acquired Cold Spring, Minnesota-based Cold Spring Brewing Company, a beverage manufacturer. The seller was the Lenore family. No financial terms were disclosed. Cascadia Capital served as Cold Spring’s investment banking adviser on the deal.

PRESS RELEASE

GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Brynwood Partners VII L.P. (“Brynwood VII”) announced today that it has acquired Cold Spring Brewing Company, Inc. (“Cold Spring”) from its current owner, the Lenore family. Terms and conditions of the transaction were not disclosed.

Located in Cold Spring, MN, Cold Spring is a leading beverage manufacturer that produces energy drinks, carbonated flavored waters and brews craft beers. The company primarily manufactures products, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and beer, for other companies’ proprietary brands and retailers’ private labels. Cold Spring also brews beer under its own brand, Third Street Brewhouse, for distribution locally in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Founded in 1874 in Cold Spring, MN, the company is one of the oldest beverage manufacturing plants in the U.S. Today, Cold Spring is a leading independent beverage manufacturer with over $60 million in net sales and employs approximately 350 people.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Cold Spring,” said Henk Hartong III, Chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners. “The well-run facilities and exciting growth plans for the company represent a great investment opportunity for Brynwood Partners.” Mr. Hartong continued, “While Cold Spring will be operated as a standalone company, we believe it will benefit greatly from the scale and national distribution and manufacturing foot print of Brynwood Partners’ Harvest Hill Beverage Company investment. We look forward to working collaboratively with Cold Spring’s management team to grow the business.”

“On behalf of Brynwood Partners, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Lenore family for working with us on this transaction,” said Ian MacTaggart, President and COO of Brynwood Partners. “This marks Brynwood VII’s sixth investment in the beverage sector and is a significant investment for our firm. We look forward to supporting Cold Spring’s loyal employees and growing its operations in Cold Spring, MN, where it has resided for 143 years and plays such an important role in the community.”

Brynwood VII did not retain an investment banking advisor but was represented by Holland & Knight LLP on legal matters. Cold Spring retained Cascadia Capital LLC as its investment banking advisor and was represented by Stinson Leonard Street LLP on legal matters.

About Brynwood Partners:
Brynwood Partners, founded in 1984 and based in Greenwich, CT, is an operationally-focused private equity firm that makes control investments in North American-based lower middle market companies in the consumer sector.

Brynwood Partners currently manages more than $725 million of private equity capital for its limited partners, which include U.S. and international pension funds, fund-of-funds, endowments, high net worth family investment offices and financial institutions. For more information on Brynwood Partners, please visit www.brynwoodpartners.com.

About Harvest Hill Beverage Company:
Harvest Hill Beverage Company, based in Stamford, CT, was formed by Brynwood VII in July 2014 to acquire the iconic Juicy Juice® brand from Nestlé USA, Inc. Juicy Juice® is the largest 100% juice brand in the U.S. focused on the kids segment. The company markets Juicy Juice® products in single-serve and multi-serve formats to the retail and foodservice channels. In March 2015, Harvest Hill acquired American Beverage Corporation (“ABC”) from Wessanen, a publicly-traded food and beverage company based in Holland. With the ABC acquisition, the company added the Little HUG® juice brand and Daily’s Cocktails® brand. ABC’s brands are distributed to a blue-chip customer base that includes leading grocery retailers, wholesalers, supercenters and foodservice distributors. In October 2016, Harvest Hill acquired Faribault Foods, Inc.’s juice pouch manufacturing facility in Elk River, MN and other selected assets. Most recently, in December 2016, the company acquired the Nutrament® energy drink brand from Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, Inc.

Brynwood VII acquired Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (“Sunny Delight”) from a private equity fund in February 2016 and, in May 2017, merged the company into its portfolio company, Harvest Hill. The 54-year-old SunnyD® brand is a leading chilled juice drink in the U.S. In addition to the SunnyD® brand, Sunny Delight markets the Fruit2O®, Veryfine®, Big Burst® and Guzzler® beverage brands. The company’s products are widely distributed through leading retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

Harvest Hill, which currently operates seven manufacturing facilities strategically located across the U.S., intends to continue to grow its branded, private label and co-manufacturing businesses both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions. For more information on Harvest Hill, please visit www.harvesthill.com, www.sunnyd.com, www.littlehug.com, www.dailyscocktails.com, www.fruit2o.com, www.veryfine.com and www.nutrament.com.