BUSINESS NEWS: Private equity backing for Acorn brands

Fleming Family & Partners (FF&P) and Lord Kalms, the founder of electricals retailer Dixons, have agreed to back Acorn Brands, which owns the Oja fruit juice brand.

FF&P (the Fleming family’s private equity vehicle) has taken a minority stake in the start-up and has supplied the company with £69 million of equity to help finance future deals. Brendan Harris, the former Coca-Cola executive who heads up Acorn, hopes to make the firm the biggest player in the European soft drinks industry, after Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

So far, the company only has  one brand, Oja (sold in Asda and Carrefour outlets) in its portfolio but it  plans to launch a second one later on this year.

The company is also looking to make mid-market acquisitions in the UK, Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Spain.

© db August 2006