Global drinks corporation Gruppo Campari announced today that it has agreed to sell the Lemonsoda soft drinks brand to the Danish-based beverage company Royal Unibrew A/S.
The reported sale price was approximately $93.79 million. This continues Gruppo Campari’s recent trend of offloading assets that help the company focus on its liquor brands.
Gruppo Campari has reshaped its lineup the last few years, selling off wine assets while acquiring spirits brands like Bulldog Gin and Grand Marnier. The company also sold off Carolans and Irish Mist to Heaven Hill earlier this year, and reported a 4.2% sales growth in fiscal year 2016.
Lemonsoda includes the alcohol-free fruit-flavoured carbonated variants Lemonsoda, Oransoda, Pelmosoda and Mojito Soda, grouped under the Freedea brand name, as well as the Crodo brands (with the exception of the brand Crodino). Besides the trademarks, the deal includes the manufacturing and bottling facility, located in Crodo, Northern Italy, and the attached water springs as well as the inventories.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.
As part of the transaction and effective from closing, Gruppo Campari and Royal Unibrew will enter into a multi-year manufacturing agreement, under which Royal Unibrew will continue to manufacture certain Gruppo Campari-owned products which are currently produced at the bottling facility located in Crodo.
‘The sale of the Lemonsoda and Crodo business marks a further key step in our strategy of streamlining our non-core activities,” says Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO of Gruppo Campari. “In particular, with this transaction we exit the soft drinks business, while retaining our core Crodino brand, to further focus on our key aperitif business in Italy.”
