Vitality Beverages Acquires Pride Beverages, Assets of Orange-co

Caxton-Iseman Capital Inc. and Engles, Urso, Follmer Capital Corp. said Tuesday that their portfolio company Vitality Beverages Inc. has acquired Pride Beverages Inc. as well as the citrus processing and packing assets and foodservice assets of Orange-co Inc. Total consideration paid for all three transactions was approximately $82 million. Pro-forma revenues of Vitality Beverages Inc. and its affiliates are approximately $600 million.

Pride Beverages is Canada's largest manufacturer and marketer of juice and drink-base concentrates for the food service industry. Pride Beverages and the beverage foodservice business of Orange-co will be integrated into Vitality Foodservice, a subsidiary of Vitality Beverages.

Vitality Foodservice, headquartered in Zephyrhills, FL, supplies non-carbonated beverages and beverage dispensing systems to the foodservice market through a worldwide customer service and distribution network. The juice processing and packing assets of Orange-co will become part of Vitality Beverages' other subsidiary, Pasco Beverage Group, a packer and marketer of private label and retail juice products in the United States.

J. Ronald Frump, Vitality Foodservice president and COO, said that the acquisition of Pride Beverages brings together complementary product lines and service networks that will allow Vitality to better serve its Canadian customers' beverage needs. Vitality Foodservice is now the leading dispensed juice and beverage provider to the foodservice industry in North America.

Vitality Beverages was acquired by affiliates of Caxton-Iseman Capital Inc. and Engles, Urso, Follmer Capital Corp. in July 1999. Caxton-Iseman Capital is a New York-based leveraged buyout firm with $650 million in capital. Engles, Urso, Follmer Capital Corp., based in Dallas, has a long investment history in the beverage industry, particularly through its affiliate Suiza Foods.

Edited by Bill Noone