1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

There's still a chance of continued life ahead for twin copacking plants once operated under Nor-Cal Beverage banner: tho Sacramento and Anaheim, Calif, plants were abruptly shut down by acquirer Manna Ventures a few weeks ago with assets listed for sale by auctioneer, at least one bidder, 13th Floor Capital, appears to have come forward to acquire facilities intact after solicitation by Stapleton Group closed on Fri, from what we're hearing. We've also heard that Shannon Deary-Bell, member of founding family who led co until its sale to Manna, has been trying to muster an offer in concert with one or more bidding partners, tho it's not clear whether she made submission deadline and hasn't responded to inquiry we made earlier today. If there is a winner, announcement may be imminent from Stapleton, which is handling disposition of assets for clients led by JP Morgan. For now, Manna Beverages operations remain intact, with at least a coupla dozen employees retained to support customers thru mid-Nov as they transition to alternate filling partners and disposition of assets moves forward. As we've pointed out, situation remains considerably clouded, with Manna saying almost nothing publicly about abrupt change in direction, which would seem to have violated notification provisions of federal WARN Act given magnitude of layoff numbering some 640 employees or so. Could there be repercussions coming from that?As reported earlier, change in direction may have been prompted by abrupt passing of Manna founder Junior Bridgeman, retired NBA star who'd built out extensive restaurant franchise empire with partner Kevin Attkisson before entering bev biz as one of Coca-Cola's new indie bottling partners via Heartland Coca-Cola in Midwest. Bridgeman's passing earlier this year precipitated change of direction, with his son and successor Justin and Attkisson apparently feeling it was time to move on from contract packing biz.Meanwhile, not much has been said about other copack operations of Manna, notably a massive $600 mil campus that was announced with much fanfare in Montgomery, Ala, back in 2022 (BBI, Oct 19 22). At time it said it would throw out welcome mat to female- and minority-owned businesses. From what we're hearing, phase 1 has been completed, essentially creating a warehouse that's serving as 3PL partner to nearby Diageo plant. But work on filling and variety pack operations contained in phases 2 and 3 doesn't seem to have commenced and it's unclear whether it will, given change in direction. Manna earlier this year also seems to have acquired an Indianapolis plant formerly operated by canned cocktail player called Blue Marble that ran into financial trouble. These are owned separately from bottling plants operated by Manna's Heartland Coca-Cola franchise to support its own sales rather than those of outside customers. On that side, production expansion continues, with co just opening state-of-art plant in Olathe, Kan, this past summer.Like Bridgeman family behind Manna Ventures, Miami-based 13th Floor is restaurant franchisee with over 60 Cinnabon, Jamba and Auntie Ann's locations, per website. It describes itself as "hybrid family office and independent sponsor" that also seeks opportunities "in cash-flow-generative companies across a multitude of industry categories and geographic markets, with strategic or opportunistic investments at all levels of the capital stack." On food production side, it recently made investment in 37th Street Bakery.

Bids Said to Have Closed Fri to Continue Operating Former Nor-Cal Plants as Integrated Units Following Closure by Acquirer Manna

Publishing Info