SunOpta Announces Acquisition of Plant-Based Brands Dream and WestSoy
April 15 2021 - 5:00PM
Business Wire
Brands to Complement Innovation Initiatives
and Co-Manufacturing Business
SunOpta Inc. (“SunOpta” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:STKL)
(TSX:SOY), a leading healthy food and beverage company focused on
plant-based foods and beverages and fruit-based foods and
beverages, today announced the acquisition of the Dream® and
WestSoy® plant-based beverage brands from The Hain Celestial Group,
Inc.
The acquired brands will add to SunOpta’s Plant-Based Foods and
Beverages segment, further accelerating growth in this
competitively advantaged business. The Dream brand is the #2 brand
of shelf-stable, plant-based milks, originally launched in 1982. As
one of the pioneers in plant-based milks, Dream has been a leader
in introducing millions of consumers to plant-based beverages over
the last 40 years. With broad distribution across natural and
organic channels, in addition to traditional grocery channels,
Dream is a strong platform from which SunOpta can drive growth.
SunOpta currently produces approximately 50% of the Dream product
portfolio and has done so for over a decade. The WestSoy brand is
the only branded shelf stable soy beverage with a USDA organic
certification and the American Heart Association certification of a
heart-healthy product. Available at many leading national
retailers, SunOpta currently produces the entire WestSoy product
portfolio.
The purchase price is $33 million, funded principally by a new
$20 million FILO term loan within SunOpta’s ABL facility at LIBOR
plus 250 to 300 basis points, depending on the utilization of the
ABL facility.
Joe Ennen, SunOpta’s Chief Executive Officer said, “This
transaction is very consistent with our previously stated objective
of pursuing strong organic and inorganic growth in our plant-based
business. As previously communicated, our interest in brands is to
allow the acceleration of innovation by giving us platforms to
pursue emerging or niche opportunities. These two brands are
perfect examples of niche brands that complement, but do not
directly compete with, our vitally important co-manufactured
partners. Since SunOpta has been manufacturing these brands for
years, when this opportunity presented itself it was an obvious fit
for us to own these brands. These leading brands will receive the
appropriate attention within SunOpta, along with an objective of
developing growth opportunities for each of the Dream and WestSoy
branded products.”
About SunOpta Inc.
SunOpta Inc. is a leading company specializing in the sourcing,
processing and production of organic, natural and non-GMO
plant-based and fruit-based food and beverage products.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210415006057/en/
Reed Anderson ICR 646-277-1260 reed.anderson@icrinc.com
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