Greenwich, Connecticut-based Brynwood Partners has agreed to acquire the distressed Sunny Delight Beverages Co., pending regulatory approval. The acquisition from buyout firm J.W. Childs Associates LP is reportedly valued at reported for $195 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The acquisition of the Cincinnati-based company that sells the Sunny D, Fruit2O and Veryfine drink brands will effectively double the size of Brynwood’s beverage portfolio which already includes Harvest Hill, maker of Juicy Juice, Little Hugs, Big Hugs, Guzzler and Daily’s Cocktails brands. Ranked as the 25th largest privately held company in the Cincinnati region on the 2015 Deloitte Cincinnati USA 100 list, Sunny Delight reported revenue of $457 million for 2014, according to Exit Hub.
"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 U.S. and Canada."
Sunny Delight has faced recent challenges as health-conscious consumers have been turning away in favor of 100% juices without additional flavors or artificial sweeteners. Sunny D, which controlled 1.1% of the U.S. juice market in 2014, making it the 25th biggest juice brand in the country, and which offers a main juice product containing 5% juice, corn syrup, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium, saw its U.S. sales fall by 19% since 2009 to $188.8 million in 2014, according to Euromonitor reports the WSJ.
Despite these market challenges, Mr. Hartong told the WSJ, “At the end of the day, there’s a huge part of the American consumer base that’s still looking for good-tasting beverage products at a good price point,” he said. “Sunny D is an important brand to the retailers because it drives a lot of sales.”
Sunny Delight is also optimistic for the brand’s prospects following the closing of the deal. Billy Cyr, president and CEO of the company added in a recent release announcing the deal, "Our team looks forward to working collaboratively with Brynwood VII's management as we develop a detailed business plan for implementation following regulatory approval which is expected in the first quarter of 2016.”