Founder Bill Creelman will retain equity ownership and move to a new role as board Chair
NEWTON, Mass., Jan. 14, 2025 -- Spindrift Beverage Co., Inc., the leading maker of sparkling water with real squeezed fruit, announced today that Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based private investment firm, will acquire a majority stake in the company. Gryphon's partnership coincides with the appointment of beverage industry veteran Dave Burwick as Spindrift's new CEO. Bill Creelman, Spindrift's Founder and current CEO, will move to a new role as Chair of Spindrift's board. Creelman and the management team will retain a significant equity stake in the company. The investment, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Spindrift was founded by Bill Creelman in his kitchen in 2010. Since then, the company has consistently achieved exceptional growth as consumers have fallen in love with Spindrift's unsweetened sparkling waters. Today, the company is committed to proudly making things "the Hard Way" with real squeezed fruit.
"I'm incredibly proud of what we've built at Spindrift over the past 15 years," said Creelman. "For this next stage of growth, we looked for two things: a leader who could understand our business and the brand as natively as the people who work here today and an investment partner with the right financial and operational resources to galvanize our market leadership. I have known and respected Dave for nearly a decade, and with his experience and Gryphon Investors' expertise, I'm confident that we will continue to have tremendous success in growing the brand and inspiring consumers to choose beverages that are based on the belief that the best tastes come directly from nature."
"Spindrift has a strong, beloved brand and differentiated product portfolio because it's made with exceptional thought and care," said Ryan Fagan, Managing Director at Gryphon. "This attention to quality underlies the company's outsized share of growth across beverage categories—nearly tripling in size since 2020—and it's what attracted us to invest in the business. We are thrilled to be partnering with both Bill and Dave, as well as the entire Spindrift team." Fagan, along with Gryphon Partners Matt Farron and Mike Ferry, will be joining Spindrift's board.
Burwick joins Spindrift following 35 years of leadership experience at global consumer brands. His positions included President and CEO of The Boston Beer Company, President and CEO of Peet's Coffee, and President, North America at Weight Watchers. He previously spent 20 years at PepsiCo in various executive capacities, including as Chief Marketing Officer of both Pepsi-Cola North America and Pepsi-Cola International.
"I'm excited to join this dynamic team," said Burwick. "Spindrift's combination of talented professionals, superior products, and loyal customers has created a fantastic brand with a great future—one I can't wait to be a part of."
Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor to Gryphon. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Lazard acted as financial advisors to Gryphon. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal advisors to Spindrift. Piper Sandler and JP Morgan acted as financial advisors to Spindrift.
About Spindrift Beverage Co.
Founded in 2010 and based in Newton, MA, Spindrift makes premium beverages with real squeezed fruit and zero added sugar. Its line of more than 20 flavors of sparkling water, teas and lemonades, hard seltzers, and mocktails is sold through diversified channels, including grocery and specialty stores, club stores, mass market outlets, and wholesale foodservice companies across the U.S. From searching worldwide to source the best-tasting fruit to prioritizing quality throughout their carefully-hewn manufacturing process, Spindrift crafts its products to celebrate the aroma, texture, and taste of real fruit —never from concentrate—in every sip.
About Gryphon Investors
Gryphon Investors is a leading middle-market private investment firm focused on profitably growing, competitively advantaged companies in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial Growth, Software, and Technology Solutions & Services sectors. With approximately $10 billion of assets under management, Gryphon prioritizes investments in which it can form strong partnerships with founders, owners, and executives to accelerate the building of leading companies and generate enduring value through its integrated deal and operations business model. Gryphon's highly differentiated model integrates its well-proven Operations Resources Group, which is led by full-time, Gryphon senior operating executives with general management, human capital acquisition and development, treasury, finance, and accounting expertise. Gryphon's three core investment strategies include its Flagship, Heritage, and Junior Capital strategies, each with dedicated funds of capital. The Flagship and Heritage strategies target equity investments of $50 million to $500 million per portfolio company. The Junior Capital strategy targets investments of $10 million to $25 million in junior securities of credit facilities, arranged by leading middle-market lenders, in both Gryphon-controlled companies, as well as in other private equity-backed companies operating in Gryphon's targeted investment sectors.
Contacts
Press contact: media@drinkspindrift.com
For Gryphon:
Lambert
Caroline Luz
203-570-6462
cluz@lambert.com
or
Jennifer Hurson
845-507-0571
jhurson@lambert.com
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