Piper has sold its majority shareholding in Bottlegreen Holdings Limited, the UK’s premium adult soft drinks business, to SHS, the Northern Irish-based food group achieving a 5x multiple on its four year investment.
Since Piper’s £5m investment in 2007, Bottlegreen has become an iconic brand stocked by all the major UK multiples with a fast-growing international presence. Over the period of the investment, consumer awareness of the brand in the UK jumped from 5% in 2007 to 15% in 2010.
During its involvement with Bottlegreen, Piper has worked closely with management to help develop the business, which has involved a major re-branding of the products, the creation of a direct communication strategy with consumers and a focus on driving significant sales increases and an 11% improvement in margin.
Simon Speers, who led the original MBO backed by Piper, stated: “As a management team we are extremely proud of the work we have done to grow Bottlegreen into such a successful business and a brand our customers love. The partnership we have had with Piper has been excellent and throughout its investment the team have been incredibly supportive, providing expertise and resources when required to help us be our best. I look forward to working with the SHS Group to further build on the company’s brand success”
George Adams, of Piper, commented: “When we invested in Bottlegreen we understood that we had an opportunity to work with an excellent management team to refresh the brand, broaden its distribution and extend the product range to take advantage of changing consumer tastes for more natural, healthy adult soft drinks. In doing so we have helped create an iconic brand that customers really value and achieved a stunning return for our investors, which is exactly what Piper exists to do.”