Celsius Holdings Inc., maker of the leading global fitness drink based in Boca Raton, FL, plans to acquire Func Food, a Finnish corporation.
Consideration for the transaction is comprised of approximately $15.1 million in cash and the assumption of $9.5 million of outstanding debt (assuming a foreign exchange rate of $1.12=€1.00).
Func Food is a Nordic wellness company that markets and distributes beverages, protein bars, supplements and superfoods under the brands Celsius, FAST Sports Nutrition, CocoVi and FitFarm.
Celsius first began its relationship with Func Food in 2016 when Func Food acquired People’s Choice, the former distributor and took over the distribution of Celsius in the Nordics, solidifying Celsius as the best-selling fitness drink in Sweden.
“The acquisition of Func Food is an important next step in our strategy to build a globally dominate brand and solidifies our position in the Nordics while opening a new distribution platform for the rest of Europe,” said John Fieldly, president and chief executive officer. “At the same time, this transaction provides us with the ability to bring an entirely new, yet complementary product offering to consumers; Func Food’s innovative FAST business. The acquisition, valued significantly below our revenue multiple, approximately 1x incremental revenue, provides immediate accretion to our shareholders and incremental opportunities to expand our European footprint.”
Fieldly continued, “According to industry statistics, more than half of all European consumers plan to improve their health through food and beverages. Adding Func Food into the Celsius family will allow us to capitalize on these areas of opportunity and benefit from the growing Sports Nutrition and Energy Drink markets in Europe. The strategic acquisition of Func Food provides Celsius with additional scale and is expected to provide a meaningful increase to our top-line, with an expected pro-forma revenue run rate of approximately $100 million, while enabling us to maintain our historically solid gross margins and extract significant operating efficiencies that will allow for reinvestment for growth.”
Func Food Group Oyj Chief Executive Officer Robin Lybeck comments; “The acquisition of Fund Food by Celsius is a very welcome development to our solid long-term partnership. Func Food has built Celsius to become a leading fitness beverage in the Nordic markets, with exceptionally high per capita-consumption in Sweden and we are looking forward to expanding the footprint of this great brand as we move ahead. Together with our category-leading offering in wellness nutrition, we are uniquely positioned to offer a complete range of products to our customers across current and future markets. As our key categories continue to grow across European markets, we feel the acquisition and our strong brands will enable us to capitalize on this development.”
