Florida Food Products (FFP), a large, independent provider of natural ingredients, will acquire Javo Beverage Co., subject to customary closing conditions. Javo is a natural extractor of clean label coffee, tea, and botanicals with a focus on beverage applications. Javo is widely recognized for its unique extraction capabilities that facilitate the delivery of exceptional cold brew coffee solutions to industry leading consumer brands, manufacturers, and restaurants.
FFP's products provide nutrition, improve texture and flavor, extend shelf life, and ultimately provide consumers with clean label and natural products, stated the company.
In 2021, Ardian, a private investment house, acquired a majority stake in FFP from MidOcean Partners and established a new partnership to accelerate FFP’s long-term growth objectives. Under this partnership, FFP has completed the acquisition of Comax, T-Bev, and now Javo. With the support of the Ardian and MidOcean teams, FFP has scaled dramatically and has more than doubled over the last year, with revenue approaching $300 million.
The addition of Javo further diversifies FFP’s portfolio, adding a number of new natural ingredients, while significantly enhancing its growth profile. FFP plans to utilize its expanded capabilities to offer innovative solutions that provide consumers great tasting, clean label products with the health attributes and transparency they desire
”We’re ecstatic for Javo to join the FFP platform. Javo’s best-in-class products are supported by a talented team and unique manufacturing capabilities that will drive a series of innovative new product launches. As part of the FFP family, we’re confident that Javo can offer our customers compelling new solutions that build on our deep portfolio of clean label ingredients,” said Jim Holdrieth, CEO of FFP.
”Our investment in Javo is a testament to the differentiated capabilities and resources that Ardian has brought to the FFP platform. As we move forward, the FFP team will be able to leverage further our extensive experience in the ingredient sector to efficiently evaluate new opportunities and be the buyer of choice for natural ingredient businesses,” said Thibault Basquin, deputy head of the Ardian Buyout Team.
The transaction is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2022. Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Javo. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
”The addition of Javo to the FFP platform is a continuation of the exceptional growth that we have seen since our initial investment in 2018, and further solidifies our position in natural beverage ingredients and solutions. Building upon the solid foundation we have established over the last four years, FFP is poised to dramatically increase its scale as it launches exciting new systems and expands into a series of high-growth adjacencies. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Jim Holdrieth, the FFP management team, and Ardian as we progress in this exciting new phase for FFP,” said Steven Loeffler, Principal at MidOcean Partners.
