Butterfly Sells MaryRuth's Stake, HighPost Raises $100M 💰

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re getting into today:

• Deckers sells Sanuk 🩴

• Pernod divests Red Heart Rum 🍹

• Siempre Tequila raises $500K 👀

• OLIPOP x LA Clippers 🏀

• GoodSAM launches new line 🍍

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Butterfly Equity, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, has sold most of its stake in MaryRuth Organics back to its founder, MaryRuth Ghiyam, and her family. Since acquiring a stake in MaryRuth Organics in 2021, Butterfly has helped the company nearly triple in size and quadruple profitability. MaryRuth Organics was founded in 2013 and is a rapidly growing vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS) brand. Business Wire

• Deckers Brands, the owner of UGG, HOKA, and Teva, has sold casual footwear brand Sanuk for an undisclosed sum. The buyer is Canadian activewear firm Lolë Brands. In Q1, Sanuk's sales dipped 28% YoY to $6.9M. Fashion Dive

• Jayson Woodbridge, founder and owner of Hundred Acre Wine Group, has acquired Napa Valley's famed Kelly Fleming Winery, a 286-acre estate between Calistoga and St. Helena. Jayson Woodbridge has been on a buying spree lately. PR Newswire

• More spirits divestments…Pernod Ricard sold Red Heart Rum to South African spirits producer KWV. Given that all the major spirits players have spent the past 12 months pruning their portfolios, we’re about to see a massive buying spree. Just Drinks

Fundraising

• Siempre Spirits, a Canadian tequila brand that launched in 2015, secured $500K in additional equity funding from undisclosed investors. Siempre unveiled a new look earlier and partnered with a different distillery earlier this year. SEC

• Consumer private equity firm HighPost Capital has raised $100M for its early stage venture arm. Dubbed HIPstr, the firm has already backed a number of early stage brands like Wild Common and Sprinter. TechCrunch

• Kingswood Capital Management, a private equity investor in G Fuel and Perfumania, raised $1.5B for Fund III. Kingswood’s AUM is now approximately $3.2B. Business Wire

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Iconic appliance designer Dyson made a bold bet on its future by launching…hair styling products. Even though this is considerable departure for Dyson, the hair styling products contain novel ingredients like chitosan and were rigorously tested in 80% humidity environments. In short, these styling products aren’t just stock formulas from a beauty co-packer. Vogue

• Frankies Bikinis opened its first-ever permanent store which is located in its hometown of Malibu. Interestingly, Victoria’s Secret invested $18M into Frankies Bikinis in 2022. WWD

• Sonos released a limited edition headphone collaboration with Sporty & Rich. The collab is available now and retails for $449. Hypebae

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• OLIPOP is now the official functional beverage of the LA Clippers and the Intuit Dome. OLIPOP is clearly bullish on sports marketing after partnering with FC Cincinnati, the Washington Nationals, and now the LA Clippers. Instagram

• After five years as Chief Creative Officer, Emma Chamberlain is now Co-CEO at her eponymous coffee brand, Chamberlain Coffee. Joining her as Co-CEO is Gustav Hossy who recently served as Chamberlain’s COO. Forbes

• Instant noodle manufacturer A-Sha Foods USA is releasing a co-branded line of ramen noodles with Hot Ones, the super popular YouTube series. Hot Ones is really turning into a licensing machine. NOSH

• There’s yet another new powdered hydration called Instant Hydration that just hit the market. Instant Hydration differentiates be eschewing added sugars and artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners. The company was founded by Zach Gordan who previously co-founded Diff Eyewear. Instagram

• GoodSAM Foods, a healthy food brand known for its commitment to sustainability and regenerative agriculture, launched a great-looking range of fruit chips. The new line is available online and at Whole Foods Market. PRWeb

• Popular spirits brand Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin just launched a Brazilian Pineapple variant. The bottle is pretty stunning. The Spirits Business 

• KitKat (owned by Nestle) partnered with Sterling Brands to refresh their logo and packaging. A big upgrade IMO. Twitter

Data 🖥️

• Alcoholic beverage sales increased 3.5% YoY for Suntory Holdings in H1. Brands like Jim Beam, Teacher’s, Oaksmith, and Hibiki all posted positive growth. The Spirits Business

Distribution News 🚚

• Evergreen doubled their door count at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• NUFS launched their crackers at H-E-B.

• Skincare brand Futurewise launched at Walmart.

• Mas+ by Messi now available in Canada.