Ex-rugby player to get £43m for selling drinks brand to Vimto

Former Leinster and Harlequins player Gary Lavin’s bank balance is set for a healthy boost.

Nichols, the British company that makes Vimto, announced it had acquired Irish drinks brand VitHit for £64million.

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VitHit was founded by Lavin in 2000 as a healthier alternative to sugary sports drinks on the market.

Lavin, who was the chairman and owned over 70 per cent of VitHit, will step away from the business once the sale is complete.

What did Gary Lavin say about the sale of VitHit?

“Since launching VitHit more than 25 years ago, our ambition has always been to build a distinctive health and wellness drinks brand with broad consumer appeal,” Lavin said.

“We are proud of what the team has achieved and consider Nichols the ideal partner to support the next stage of the brand’s development.”

Nichols chief executive Andrew Milne added: “With its established market position, alignment with our asset-light operating model, proven profitability and significant headroom for growth, VitHit perfectly fits the acquisition profile we have been looking for and is fully aligned with our long-term growth strategy.

“Nichols is ideally placed to accelerate VitHit’s development through our commercial capabilities, customer relationships, route-to-market expertise and international infrastructure.

“A significant opportunity exists to expand distribution across the group’s existing customer base.”

VitHit generated £22.8m in revenue last year, with 40 per cent of its sales in the UK and an additional 40 per cent in Ireland.

Why did Gary Lavin create VitHit?

Lavin formulated the idea for VitHit when he was forced to quit rugby due to a knee injury in his early 20s.

Despite holding aspirations to represent Ireland and being left devastated when he could not fulfil his dream, Lavin admitted things had turned out rather well.

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“There is no such thing as a happy injury, but I have to say things turned out pretty well,” Lavin said at an event in 2019.

“Nevertheless, as a rugby player in my early twenties, all I wanted was to play rugby for Ireland and become a superstar.

“While I might only have ever been a journeyman, the inherent confidence of the rugby player within was shattered.”

Lavin’s journey to selling his company for £64m was not without its bumps in the roads.

In the early years of VitHit, Lavin was on the brink of financial ruin.

However, he refused to give up on his dream.

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“The key was that I never accepted defeat,” Lavin said.

“I had a firm belief that my product was great. I also had the competitive spirit.

“Of couse, there were difficult times, I remember sitting outside the cinema one day, distraught and broke.

“But I was also dropped plenty of times as a rugby player… And they were the very moments I learned my greatest lessons.”