Five years ago, Cocobella was just a coconut water brand sitting inside Coca-Cola Amatil's portfolio. This week it became the centrepiece of Danone's biggest Australian play yet, a deal worth close to $2 billion that hands TPG Capital a return of five to six times its money.
TPG bought Made Group from Coca-Cola and its founders in 2021, when the business was earning about $22.6 million. The group, which includes popular Aussie brands like Cocobella, Rokeby and Impressed, now earns roughly $110 million, with sales topping $490 million this financial year. Much of that growth has come from Rokeby, whose protein drinks have ridden Australia's 'protein obsession', with demand for high-protein food and drinks climbing across the board.
This isn't just a one-off purchase, though. Danone's CFO Juergen Esser said the company has big plans for Australia and New Zealand, calling Made a springboard for further regional deals. Danone is separately buying out the remaining 49 per cent of its Saputo yoghurt joint venture in the same week, consolidating control of its other major local asset.
Danone's regional push is driven by global demand for high-protein food, which has been climbing for years on broader health and fitness habits, and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, with users trying to preserve muscle while losing weight, is now adding even more to it. Competition is intensifying because of it too, including against rivals like Chobani in the US, where Danone has struggled to keep pace.
Made's co-founders will sell out entirely, while CEO Amanda Butler stays on. It's a textbook private equity exit – buy a steady earner, run it hard for five years, then sell to a strategic buyer for five to six times your money.
