The Very Good Food Company Inc. operating as The Very Good Butchers last week announced the completion of its acquisition of artisan vegan cheese producer The Cultured Nut, with imminent plans to rebrand its portfolio under the name The Very Good Cheese Company. The company reports that the acquisition took place for CAD $3 million / USD $2.4 million.
The planned acquisition was announced in January and followed the strategic hire of Ana Silva, previously of Daiya. The Cultured Nut offers a range of block-style cheeses, cream cheese, and a plant-based butter, and the company reveals that there are numerous products in development.
The rebranded Very Good Cheese Company is set to launch in Q2 of this year, with TVGFC intending to upscale production to over 100,000 units per month in 2021 and plans to scale even further in 2022. The founders of The Cultured Nut and certain other key employees have entered into employment agreements with VERY and the transaction structure includes conditional payments based on the achievement of production and product innovation milestones.
Mitchell Scott, CEO, commented: “The acquisition of Cultured Nut allows VERY to efficiently enter into the dairy alternatives space. This is a significant milestone in the realization of our long-term strategy of owning several brands under the banner of the Very Good Food Company in all major food categories providing consumers fun, innovative and healthier plant-based alternatives to everyday animal-based products.”
VERY completed the acquisition pursuant to a share purchase agreement with the shareholders of Cultured Nut for an aggregate purchase price of C$3,000,000; comprised of an equity payment of C$1,000,000 consisting of 139,676 VERY common shares at a deemed price of approximately C$7.15 per share and a cash portion of C$2,000,000 of which C$1,000,000 is contingent on the successful achievement of certain milestones related to the integration of the Cultured Nut’s business over a 12 month period and C$75,000 will serve as a holdback for indemnity purposes until August 31, 2021.
