RPI acquires functional bar maker Living Ecology

Rosewood Private Investments (RPI) has expanded its health and wellness portfolio with the acquisition of functional bar maker Living Ecology (LE).

Headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, LE develops and manufactures a range of functional foods and nutritional supplements with a specialisation in fruit and nutrition bars. Costco, Whole Foods, and Starbucks are among the companies that stock products produced by LE.

Through its acquisition of LE, Rosewood Private Investments, the private equity arm of the Texas-based Rosewood Corporation, has entered the functional foods market.

LE will become an affiliate of RPI-owned Innovations in Nutrition + Wellness (INW), which produces capsules, powders, drinks, gels and cosmetics for the global health and wellness industry.

The acquisition will expand INW’s manufacturing footprint with two additional facilities, which will provide the company with ‘entirely new capabilities’ in functional bars and bites.

In particular, the addition of LE’s allergen-free facility in Henderson, Nevada, will provide INW with a ‘strategically important’ point of differentiation in the bar category, which is said to have been worth $9.6 billion in 2019.

“We are proud to welcome LE and their expertise in the functional foods industry to RPI’s portfolio of nutrition and wellness companies,” said RPI director, Marquez Bela.

“Through this acquisition, we look forward to offering INW’s customers new and expanded product format options, specifically in the functional foods markets, as nutritional bars become an increasingly popular dietary option for consumers in the United States.”

LE CEO, Jack Singh, commented: “After 26 years of innovation and development, LE is pleased to work with RPI to foster the next iteration of the company alongside leaders in the field such as INW.”

INW CEO, Gary Giles, added: “INW provides our customers with products that meet the highest standards of quality, innovation, and customer care.

“We could not think of a better company to help us with this than LE. Our customers will have expanded value within RPI’s updated portfolio through state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and the addition of fruit and nutritional bar options.”

The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.