Royal Unibrew acquires Vrumona in the Netherlands and establishes new growth platform

Royal Unibrew A/S has today signed an agreement to acquire Vrumona from Heineken. Vrumona is the second largest soft drinks player in the Dutch market carrying a range of strong own brands and partner brands. The company and production site is located near Utrecht and has more than 300 employees.

Lars Jensen, CEO of Royal Unibrew A/S, states that “we are happy to have signed an agreement with Heineken to acquire Vrumona. Vrumona is a leading soft drinks manufacturer, and it comes with a strong local organization, which makes it a strategic very strong fit for Royal Unibrew. Vrumona will become a new growth platform for Royal Unibrew in continental Europe and is expected to drive organic earnings growth in the coming years”.

Transaction overview
At completion, Royal Unibrew A/S will acquire 100% of Vrumona in consideration of EUR 300 million on a debt free basis. Vrumona’s net revenue was in 2022 EUR 200 million whereas normalized EBITDA in 2022 was EUR 25 million, resulting in an acquisition multiple of (EV/EBITDA) of 12 times.

The acquisition of Vrumona is expected to be EPS accretive already in 2024, and ROIC on the acquisition is expected to exceed WACC within 3 years.

The transaction is dependent on one regulatory approval in a small Royal Unibrew export market as well as a customary works council process on the seller’s side of the transaction. Closing of the transaction is expected to happen in either September or October this year and will be financed by committed extended financing facilities with existing banks.

Strategic rationale
With a strong position in both On- and Off-Trade, Vrumona is the second largest player in the Dutch soft drinks market with an established range of strong own brands like Royal Club, Sisi, Sourcy, Sourcy Vitamin Water and partner brands like 7 Up, Pepsi and Rivella. With its strong local organization, Vrumona fits very well into Royal Unibrew A/S’ operating model of strong local businesses with strong local brands.

The majority of the product portfolio is within the no/low sugar and calories segment, as Vrumona has been a frontrunner in healthy and functional innovations with a clear focus on wellness, healthier products and sustainability combined with a comprehensive portfolio of winning brands.

With the acquisition of Vrumona we also expand our long-standing partnership with PepsiCo, as Vrumona is operating the full beverage portfolio from PepsiCo on a license agreement in a partnership dating back to 1949.