New Age Beverages acquires US drinks firm Morinda for $85m

New Age Beverages Corporation (NABC) has secured a deal to buy Utah-based beverage company Morinda Holdings for $85 million.

The newly combined company will be headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with operations in Shanghai, Tokyo, Munich, Utah, and more than 20 countries in total. 

By combining with Morinda, NABC said it will be able to rapidly grow its brands by adding a direct-to-consumer infrastructure and market access to 60 countries around the world.

Founded in 1996, Morinda achieved $240 million in revenue and $20 million in adjusted EBITDA in the last 12 months, representing approximately 5% growth versus the previous year. Over 90% of its sales are driven by its Tahitian Noni-Juice brand.

Morinda CEO Kerry Asay said: “We are so excited to be combining with New Age. When we envisioned what we could achieve with New Age’s portfolio through our system, we knew how transformative it could be for all our employees and independent distributors around the world. I have guided Morinda since its creation for the past 22 years, and am so proud of what we have accomplished.  

“I am highly confident that Brent will lead our company to even greater heights, and I am very excited to become a shareholder of New Age. Now as a public company, with all the resources that Morinda will bring to the integrated company, we see tremendous potential for all our employees, independent distributors and shareholders for growth and significant wealth creation.” 

Brent Willis, New Age CEO, added: “This merger is excellent for both Morinda and New Age. Morinda adds New Age’s portfolio of healthy beverages to its network to drive further growth alongside its lead brand, Tahitian Noni. New Age adds significant scale, and infrastructure to accelerate growth, especially of its CBD-infused beverages and health sciences portfolio.

“It is exciting to lead this company that has grown from $2 million to over $300 million in two-and-a-half years. We still feel like we are just getting started, and are excited to work with our new associates from Morinda to build the world’s leading healthy beverage company.”   

Colorado-based NABC was created in 2016 “to capitalise on the global consumer shift to health and wellness”. The company owns brands such as Búcha Live Kombucha, XingTea, Coco-Libre coconut water and Marley cold coffee and tea.