NESTLE takes majority stake in NUUN

Nestlé Health Science agreed on 10 May 2021 to acquire Nuun, the Seattle hydration brand, from TSG Consumer Partners, and completed the deal on 1 July 2021. TSG had held a minority stake since November 2017, when it invested alongside Dan Nordstrom, the company’s early lead investor. During that period Nuun widened its range with its Immunity, Rest, Energy and Instant lines, moving beyond sports hydration into everyday use, and entered new sales channels. Managing director Michael Layman said the partnership had produced significant top-line growth and turned Nuun into a major force in healthy hydration. At the time of the deal, Nuun’s sports drink mix generated more than $10.1 million of multi-outlet retail sales over the twelve months to 27 April 2021, up 29%, according to IRI data. Chief executive Kevin Rutherford stayed to lead the business, which kept its Seattle headquarters and was integrated into Nestlé Health Science over the following months. For Nestlé Health Science, the purchase added a low-sugar electrolyte tablet range to a portfolio of active lifestyle nutrition brands that already included Garden of Life, Boost, Vital Proteins and Persona, and gave it a position in functional hydration alongside the functional water brand Essentia, acquired earlier the same year. Chief executive Greg Behar pointed to the growth of a category driven by consumers looking to replace the minerals lost during exercise, and said the group would use its research capabilities and geographic reach to sell Nuun in more countries. The deal formed part of Nestlé chief executive Mark Schneider’s aim of building personal health and nutrition into a significant share of group sales.