Reviving Orangina

From personal experience, I know the private equity model sometimes has advantages over public companies. Before Blackstone and Lion Capital invested in Orangina Schweppes in 2006, we were a  pretty small, unloved division within publicly listed Cadbury Schweppes.

Orangina, once a strong French brand, was drowning in a fiercely competitive drinks market. Private equity soon changed this. New management brought fresh focus and targeted investment, particularly in marketing where our budget jumped to 130 million euros from 90 million in just three years.

We adapted and modernized the bottling structure, and we  sold off underperforming elements of the portfolio, freeing us up to focus on promoting our key brands. The results were spectacular – with dramatic increase both in Net Sales and Operating Profit.