Nichols buys VITHIT for €75M in cash
What's the deal? NicholsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the AIM-listed diversified soft drinks group, has acquired 100% of Ireland's VITHITDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for €75.0 million (about £64 million) in cash. The deal is on a debt-free, cash-free basis and funded from cash on Nichols' balance sheet.
What does VITHIT do? Founded in Dublin in 2001, VITHIT sells low-calorie, low-sugar drinks fortified with vitamins and functional ingredients. Its range spans ready-to-drink bottles, sparkling cans, and effervescent products, and it holds leading positions in the UK and Ireland plus a presence in 13 other markets.
What are the numbers? For the year ended December 31, 2025, VITHIT generated €26.5 million in revenue, €4.2 million in adjusted operating profit, and €4.1 million in adjusted profit before tax. Revenue has grown at a roughly 9.5% three-year CAGR, up more than 90% since FY21.
What's the endgame? Nichols plans to strengthen its UK packaged business and expand into the growing health and wellness segment. It expects VITHIT's asset-light model to deliver more than €1 million in annual synergies and to lift earnings and dividends per share from FY27.
Why now? The deal fits Nichols' strategy of buying differentiated brands in high-growth categories. Nichols will retain VITHIT's Dublin office and its management team; founder and chairman Gary Lavin steps down from day one.
The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing, and Nichols reaffirmed its 1.5x dividend cover policy.
The signal: Legacy soft drinks makers are buying their way into functional, low-sugar categories where consumer demand is shifting. For Nichols, VITHIT is a bet that health and wellness drinks — not sugary staples — are where growth now sits.
Read more: Investegate
Image credit: Topher
