Stevenson & Company completes the sale of Aspen Mulling Company, Inc.
Result: Business Sold to Strategic Buyer
Industry: Manufacturing – Specialty Food Products
Stevenson & Company completed the sale of the Aspen Mulling Company, Inc. (Aspen), the leader in dissolvable mulled cider spice products to Brand Castle LLC, a leader in interactive baking kits for children and adults.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Aspen Mulling Company is the category leader with a brand that is instantly recognizable in its distinctive, milk carton packaging. Its products include cider spice blends, instant drink mixes and gourmet bread and muffin mixes. Cider spices are designed to enhance the flavor of a variety of beverages including juices, tea, cider, wine and brandy. Its products are distributed through more than 10,000 specialty and gift shops as well as supermarkets and specialty food accounts.
Stevenson & Company was retained to advise on the sale of the company and identified Brand Castle as the most attractive partner. Brand Castle markets a creative line of interactive baking kits using iconic brand licenses such as Disney, Hello Kitty® and Crayola. Adding the Aspen brand to their portfolio and creatively expanding the line was a perfect fit for the companies growth strategy. In addition, Aspen’s penetration into specialty and gift shops provides a new channel to cross sell the Brand Castle line of products.
David Kallen, CEO of Aspen, commented: “I was delighted with the results of the sale process and the guidance provided by Stevenson. They really added critical insight throughout the process and were instrumental in getting the deal done.”
Stevenson served as an excellent trusted advisor throughout. They provided me with precisely what I needed – an aggressive go-to-market approach, the guidance to present Aerostar’s story and future strategy, and the drive to get it successfully closed! And this is what retirement looks like!