Blackstone eyes sale of Victor Allen's coffee owner Trilliant, sources say
26/03/2024 13:02
By Abigail Summerville
March 26 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone
BX.N is considering a sale of Trilliant Food & Nutrition that
could value the U.S. company behind the Victor Allen's and Aspen
Ridge coffee brands at about $600 million including debt, three
people familiar with the matter said.
Blackstone has tapped Bank of America BAC.N as financial
adviser on the potential sale, the sources said.
Trilliant generates nearly $60 million of annual earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, the
sources added.
Blackstone and Bank of America declined to comment.
Trilliant did not respond to requests for comment.
Trilliant makes private label and branded beverages,
including coffee grounds, coffee pods, teas and fruit drink
mixes. The Wisconsin-based company was founded in 1979 by Victor
Allen Mondry and changed its name from Victor Allen's Coffee to
Trilliant in 2013.
While Trilliant's business has taken a hit from a jump in
raw material costs it has benefited from consumers seeking the
convenience of single-serve and ready-to-drink coffee, as well
as growing demand for cheaper private-label products, credit
ratings agency Moody's Investors Service said last year.
Blackstone gained majority ownership of the company through
a preferred equity investment in 2017.
It invested $291 million in the form of payment-in-kind
notes, which grow each year as the company adds to the notes
balance instead of paying Blackstone annual interest.
(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York
Editing by David Goodman)
((abigail.summerville@thomsonreuters.com;))