Harvest Hill to buy American Beverage Corp. for $55M

The Stamford-based manufacturer of the Juicy Juice brand of juice drinks has reached a deal to purchase a Rye Brook-headquartered beverage company.

Brynwood Partners VII LP announced on Monday that its majority-owned portfolio company, Harvest Hill Beverage Co., has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire American Beverage Corp. from the Dutch food conglomerate Wessanen for approximately $55 million. Harvest Hill was founded in 2014 to purchase the Juicy Juice brand from Nestle USA Inc. American Beverage Co. is the manufacturer of the Little Hug Fruit Barrels line of juice drinks.

“The Little Hug brand provides Harvest Hill with an entry into the sizable juice drink category,” said Henk Hartong, chairman and CEO of Brynwood Partners and chairman of Harvest Hill, in a statement. “The addition of Little Hug to our retail juice portfolio enables Harvest Hill to participate in all segments of the juice aisle, strengthening our position with our retail partners.”

Founded in 1960, American Beverage Corp. is a manufacturer and marketer of fruit drinks, ready-to-drink alcoholic drinks and nonalcoholic cocktail mixers. In addition to Little Hug Fruit Barrels, the company’s brands include Big Hug and Guzzler, as well as Daily’s alcoholic cocktail drinks and mixers. The company, which has approximately 337 employees, is headquartered in Rye Brook and manufactures its products out of a company-owned facility in Verona, Pa., and a leased facility in Phoenix.

Brynwood Partners VII LP is a private equity fund operated by Brynwood Partners, a Greenwich-based private equity firm that makes control investments in North American-based lower middle-market companies in the consumer sector.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.