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Through its portfolio company, Ya Ya Foods, US-based Entrepreneurial Equity Partners (E2P) has acquired Truss Beverage Co. from Tilray Brands.

The deal adds Truss Beverage’s primary asset – a 186,000-square-foot beverage manufacturing facility located in Belleville, Ontario, Canada – to the Ya Ya Foods portfolio. The factory was constructed in 2020 and has an annual production capacity of 250,000 hectolitres. The acquisition of Truss Beverage increases the number of Ya Ya Foods’ North American production sites to three.

Ya Ya Foods is an aseptic contract manufacturer of low-acid beverages such as plant-based milks, plant-based and bone broths, high-protein beverages and speciality dairy products, as well as high-acid beverages such as juice. It offers end-to-end packaging solutions to multinational beverage companies across North America and was acquired by E2P in February 2021.

Yahya Abbas, founder and CEO of Ya Ya Foods, said: “We are thrilled to add the Truss facility to the Ya Ya Foods portfolio. The state-of-the-art facility will enable us to offer new capabilities, such as canning and glass, in addition to our existing aseptic PET, carton and gable top chilled capabilities, and additional capacity to new and existing customers throughout North America.”

Mark Burgett, partner at E2P, added: “Ya Ya aspires to bring continued value and expanded product offerings to its customers throughout North America. The addition of the Belleville facility further cements Ya Ya’s status as a leader in aseptic beverage manufacturing. We look forward to the growth prospects on the horizon for Ya Ya.”

Truss Beverage was originally started as a cannabis drinks joint venture between Tilray Brands and Molson Coors. Last year, Tilray bought Truss Beverage from Molson Coors and bought out the group’s 57.5% stake in the venture.

This has been a busy month for Tilray Brands – last week it added four production sites to its US roster through the acquisition of four craft breweries from Molson Coors.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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