Private-equity-backed The Quality Group has acquired a majority stake in US sports-nutrition peer Raw Nutrition.
Germany-based The Quality Group, itself majority-owned by private-equity firm CVC, is home to brands including ESN and More Nutrition.
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In a deal with Raw Nutrition described as “a strategic partnership”, The Quality Group will own a majority shareholding in the Florida-based business.
Founded in 2019, Raw Nutrition is led by CEO Dom Iacovone, Chris Bumstead and bodybuilding coach Matt Jansen. All three will be shareholders in the combined company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Iacovone said: “After many discussions with several global performance nutrition companies, we decided to enter a partnership with The Quality Group given that they understand all the opportunities and challenges that we’re about to face, and have navigated through them extremely successfully.
“Going through our process, it was very important to me to find a strategic partner versus one that would just give us the most money. We have big goals at Raw Nutrition to build this brand as big as it can be and cooperating with The Quality Group is the first step to helping us navigate that.”
The companies will “continue to operate as independent brands”, a statement issued by The Quality Group read.
“Both Raw Nutrition and The Quality Group are deeply connected to their target audiences. While Raw excites athletes in the US, we activate a loyal, performance-driven following in Europe through ESN and More Nutrition,” The Quality Group CEO Heikki Takala said.
Raw Nutrition is aiming to focus on growing its product portfolio and presence in the US. In its domestic market, the company’s products are available online, as well as in store at Crunch Fitness, GNC, Sam’s Club and The Vitamin Shoppe.
The owners of The Quality Group sold a majority stake to CVC three years ago.
Established in 2020 through the merger of sports nutrition brands ESN and More Nutrition, the business’ principal markets are Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
This week, the company announced the launch of the More Nutrition brand in the UK.
