Campari has sold Lemonsoda to the Danish Royal Unibrew for 80 million euros, subject to the usual price adjustment mechanisms, a note specifies. The sold business includes fruit-based carbonated soft drinks such as Lemonsoda, Oransoda, Pelmosoda and Mojito Soda, grouped under the Freedea brand, and the Crodo brands (excluding Crodino). In addition to the brands, the scope of the sale includes the production and bottling site located in Crodo, in Northern Italy, the water source and the warehouse.
The closing of the transaction is expected by the end of 2017. The perimeter of the brands sold by Campari in 2016 recorded total net sales of 32,8 million euros and a contribution margin (gross margin after expenses for advertising and promotions ), before allocated costs and depreciation, equal to 6,3 million. The total sales of the brands sold represent approximately 2% of Gruppo Campari's total sales in 2016. Italy is the main market for the brands, accounting for 84,3% of sales in 2016. The total value of the transaction, the note specifies again, corresponds to a multiple of approximately 13 times the contribution margin, before allocated costs and depreciation, relating to the brands sold.
As part of the transaction, and effective as of the closing date, Gruppo Campari and Royal Unibrew have entered into a multi-year manufacturing agreement, under which Royal Unibrew will continue to produce certain Gruppo Campari proprietary products currently bottled at the facility of Crodo. The transaction is part of the program to rationalize the Campari portfolio to increase the focus on priority brand spirits. Since the beginning of 2017, the group has sold non-strategic assets for a total value of approximately 310 million euros.
The business sold entered the Gruppo Campari portfolio in 1995, as part of the first acquisition made. The range was part of a wider portfolio of brands which also included the non-alcoholic aperitif Crodino, a brand excluded from the announced transaction and which currently remains a strategic brand owned by the Campari Group. The buyer, Royal Unibrew A/S, is a Danish public company listed on the Nasdaq Nordic Stock Exchange, and a major player in beer, soft drinks, mineral water, cider drinks, energy drinks and carbonated soft drinks. malt, with leadership positions mainly in Northern Europe, Italy and in the international malt-based beverage markets.
“The sale of the Lemonsoda and Crodo business represents a further step in our strategy of rationalizing non-strategic activities. In particular, following this transaction, we are exiting the soft drinks sector, maintaining our core Crodino brand, in order to further focus on the aperitif segment in Italy,” commented Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO of Gruppo Campari.
"We are very pleased to sign this agreement with Royal Unibrew, a company committed to developing brands in the soft drinks and mineral waters segment, therefore a perfect fit for the Lemonsoda range", continued the manager, specifying that "we are pleased to be able to transfer the Crodo production site to a group intending to invest in the soft drinks segment with ambitious growth plans for the production site”.
"Today's acquisition consolidates our commitment to the Italian market and strengthens our positioning," added Hans Savonije, CEO of Royal Unibrew, the group that controls the Ceres Strong Ale brand. “We believe that thanks to our consolidated experience in multiple categories of the beverage sector we will be able to generate growth from the acquired business”, he concluded, recalling that Lemonsoda behind Ceres will be the second product of the group in Italy.
