News
Clearly Drinks acquired for £15m by Supreme
The deal is worth £15m according to FMCG firm Supreme, which added that the addition of Clearly will help the business broaden its portfolio.
Clearly is a long-standing manufacturer of specialised canned and bottled-at-source spring water and soft drinks based in Sunderland.
The firm currently supplies close to 70 customers across the UK including major retailers such as Waitrose, Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Farm Foods. In the year ended 31 December 2023, Clearly reported revenue of £22.4m and adjusted EBITDA of £3m.
Alongside providing private and own label beverages for supermarkets and discounters and acting as a contract manufacturer soft drinks companies around the world, Clearly is the owner of drinks brands Perfectly Clear, Northumbria Spring and Revolution Waves.
The business employs around 100 members of staff and operates across a 150,000 square foot freehold site which includes three onsite natural spring water boreholes capable of accessing up to 300 million litres of fresh spring water.
The facility is fully automated, having received a multimillion-pound investment, and contains a new fully automated can line with the capacity to produce 350m canned drinks per year. In addition to cans, Clearly has the manufacturing capabilities to package products in glass or PET bottles, further accommodating both medium and large-sized retailers.
Commenting on the deal, Supreme chief executive Sandy Chadha said: "We are delighted to be acquiring Clearly, a high-quality manufacturer and brand owner of soft drinks, which I believe delivers a significant component of our broader diversification strategy. Our enlarged business is not only gaining a strong additional pillar, which fully aligns with our vaping, lighting, batteries and sports nutrition and wellness categories, but also a significant opportunity to develop and capitalise on further cross and upsell opportunities which our trusted reputation across the UK retail space facilitates.
“We look forward to welcoming Clearly into the Supreme family and updating shareholders on our progress over the course of the current financial year."
In other news, Britvic rejected a £3.2bn takeover bid from Carlsberg on 17 June 2024.
