Celsius Acquires Alani Nu, Shares Soar 📈

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

• Hiyo secures funding 💰

• No Sleep Beverage backs Artet 🍸

• Dr. Bronner’s drops B Corp status 👀

• David reformulates protein bar range 💪

• Saltair heads to Ulta Beauty 💥

Celsius Acquires Alani Nu, Shares Soar 📈

Just five months after Keurig Dr Pepper shelled out nearly $1B to acquire a majority stake in GHOST, we have yet another massive acquisition in the energy drink category. Shortly after trading closed on Thursday, Celsius Holdings announced that it was acquiring fast-growing energy drink brand Alani Nu for $1.8B in a mix of cash, stock, and a small earnout. 

An acquisition of this nature was inevitable for Celsius Holdings. Celsius is the third largest energy drink brand by market share behind Red Bull and Monster, but lately growth has slowed and their stock price was in the toilet. For context, Celsius only grew 3% year-over-year in 2024 — a far cry from their 102% year-over-year revenue growth in 2023 — and their share price plummeted from $95 last year to around $21 on February 12th.

With growth coming to a grinding halt and analysts clamoring, Celsius’ only move was to buy one of their fast-growing peers. Enter Alani Nu, the fastest-growing brand in the category. Over the four week period ending on January 26th, Alani Nu sales jumped 78% year-over-year according to Circana. 

By acquiring Alani Nu, Celsius not only solves its much-discussed growth problem, but it placates analysts and gives them a little cover to figure out how to return Celsius itself to meaningful growth. 

Additionally, the combined company is expected to generate $2B in annual sales. This figure gets Celsius a tiny bit closer to Red Bull and Monster, but more importantly it gives them an even greater lead over brands like C4, Reign, NOS, and Bang. 

All in all it’s a smart acquisition, and not a terribly expensive one given how desperate Celsius was for growth. The market loved the move with Celsius shares popping nearly 30% in one day.

More on the transaction here. 

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• Three days after acquiring Trybe Labs, Hims & Hers (NYSE: HIMS) also acquired a peptide facility in California. The acquisition will enable Hims & Hers to shore up its domestic supply chain and bring more manufacturing in-house. Business Wire

Fundraising

• Non-alcoholic beverage brand Hiyo secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Constellation Brands and Santatera Capital. Founded in 2019 by three friends, Hiyo is sold at over 3,000 points of distribution including H-E-B and Whole Foods Market. Partnering directly with Constellation Brands ought to unlock considerable distribution gains for Hiyo. Sanatera Capital has been busy lately. Recent investments include Little Sesame, Refresh Gum, and now Hiyo. LinkedIn

• No Sleep Beverage invested in Artet, a purveyor of THC-infused beverages. Artet made its debut in 2019 with a botanical aperitif before expanding into the RTD category. No Sleep Beverage is also an investor in Madre Mezcal, Nine Banded Whiskey, Solento Organic Tequila, and a handful of other brands. BevNET

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• In a rather surprising turn of events, Dr. Bronner’s dropped its B Corp certification and then excoriated the organization. Long story short: Dr. Bronner’s believes that B Corp status is too easily earned and many of the brands that proudly flaunt the badge don’t deserve it. Hats off to Dr. Bronner’s for speaking up. Retail Brew

• Kylie Cosmetics is preparing to launch fragrance #2 after their first fragrance was such a huge success. Dubbed Cosmic, the new scent will launch on February 27th and will cost $78. Hypebae

• Glossier launched its popular Futuredew Serum in solid stick form for targeted application. Very sleek. Instagram

• PAPATUI, the men’s personal care brand founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, just launched Ageless Action Under Eye Patches. The new SKU is available exclusively via their website. PR Newswire

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• David just reformulated its protein bar range to improve texture and increase sweetness. Stevia and monk fruit were removed while sucralose was added to the formula. I liked the original bar so I’m curious how the latest iteration tastes. Stack3d

• Popular snack brand Biena just launched a range of high-protein, on-the-go edamame snacks. Each 1.05 oz bag contains an impressive 12-13g of protein. This is Biena’s smallest pack size yet and opens up the convenience store channel. PR Newswire

• Honey Mama’s is launching a new Protein Crunch Bar line. I don’t think 8g of protein per serving will move the needle for most consumers, but Honey Mama’s makes incredible products so I’m eager to try the new line. If you haven’t tried their refrigerated truffle bars yet, I encourage you to check them out. LinkedIn

• Graza just expanded into the cooking spray category with two SKUs. Consumers love the convenience aspect of cooking sprays so it’s smart of Graza to leverage its brand equity to launch into a new category. The packaging looks pretty good too. Twitter

• NFL legend Tom Brady just launched a new candy brand called GOAT Gummies. The gummies are organic, vegan, and completely free of artificial sweeteners, flavors, and dyes. The three SKUs are available exclusively via Gopuff 👇 Parade

• Pantalones Organic Tequila, the spirits brand that Matthew McConaughey recently co-founded, is now the official tequila of Austin Football Club. PR Newswire

• Regenerative food brand Stoked Oats won an award from Betters Homes & Gardens for its new OatRice SKU. The magazine named OatRice the Best New Grain during their annual food awards. Instagram

Data 🖥️

• Snack maker Utz Brands missed revenue expectations in Q4 with sales dropping 3.1% to $341M. The company attributed the revenue drop to the divestiture of R.W. Garcia and Good Health. Non-GAAP profit came in above analyst expectations, however. Business Wire

• Birkenstock posted strong quarterly results with revenue increasing 19% to 362M EUR. Birkenstock

Distribution News 🚚

• Haircare brand CÉCRED is launching at Ulta Beauty.

• Wellness brand Crushed Tonic launched at Urban Outfitters.

• BFY ramen brand immi went nationwide at Whole Foods Market.

• Personal care brand Saltair launched nationwide at Ulta Beauty.

• Sour Strips launched at Sam’s Club.

• Beauty brand VIOLETTE_FR is launching at Sephora.