NSRGY Nestle SA (PK)

By Jaewon Kang 

The maker of the SunnyD and Juicy Juice beverage brands is weighing a sale that is expected to yield a valuation of $1 billion or more, said people familiar with the matter.

Harvest Hill Beverage Co., which is backed by private-equity firm Brynwood Partners, retained investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. to run a sale process, the people said.

The Stamford, Conn.-based beverage maker is projected to generate earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $100 million and net sales of roughly $600 million this year, they added.

Harvest Hill, which is also home to the Veryfine, Nutrament and Fruit2O brands, is weighing a sale nearly five years after its inception.

Brynwood Partners formed the company in 2014 when it purchased the Juicy Juice brand from Nestlé SA via its seventh fund and used Harvest Hill as a platform to consolidate the juice category. Under the consumer-focused firm, Harvest Hill focused on making acquisitions, buying the Little Hug, Daily's Cocktails and Nutrament brands. In addition, the company bought Sunny Delight Beverages Co., the maker of SunnyD, Big Burst and Guzzler drinks, from J.W. Childs Associates in 2016.

Last year, Harvest Hill named Robert Mortati as president and chief executive. He joined from organic juice maker Apple & Eve LLC.

Harvest Hill is among the latest businesses in the food-and-beverage sector to explore a sale. The industry has become a robust landscape of deal activity. Corporate and private-equity buyers remain eager to scoop up fast-growing upstarts, especially those that cater to health-conscious consumers seeking to cut their intake of sugar and calories.

Already this year, sponsors have agreed to $9.83 billion worth of food-and-beverage deals in the U.S. while there have also been $15 billion in corporate strategic transactions, according to Dealogic.

Brynwood Partners of Greenwich, Conn., made a name in the consumer private-equity world through carving out overlooked or underperforming businesses from conglomerates and boosting their growth. Among the firm's recent deals is the purchase of J.M. Smucker Co.'s U.S. baking business for about $375 million in September.

Brynwood Partners raised $649 million for its eighth fund in 2018.

Write to Jaewon Kang at jaewon.kang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 22, 2019 13:28 ET (17:28 GMT)

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