SELLING AN ICON
AriZona, the long-time, fiercely independent beverage company is no longer a two-man shop. And it might also signal the end of a friendship.
Co-Founder John Ferolito, the silent partner to better-known marketing whiz Don Vultaggio, has sold part or all of his holdings in Beverage Marketing USA, the company that makes AriZona, to private equity group Patriarch Partners LLC.
Meanwhile, the pair are also suing each other in New York. Neither side would comment on the ongoing actions in the Supreme Court of New York County, but large firm lawyers are currently representing both Ferolito and Vultaggio in the suit, which began earlier this year.
The sale is crucial to the future direction of AriZona, the leading RTD iced tea brand in the country, as Ferolito was an equal partner with Vultaggio. Vultaggio has expressed a strong desire to remain active in guiding the company, reportedly nixing the opportunity to sell out to a larger company on more than one occasion.
“This partnership brings tremendous opportunity to our company, our employees, distributors, retailers and stakeholders -- all of whom have been integral to our long term success. Patriarch will enable us to move into the next phase of our company’s lifecycle with rapidity and success,” said John Ferolito in a release issued by Patriarch. “My partner Don Vultaggio and I started this company from an idea and vision and from that initial dream have grown it to become the successful enterprise it is today. Patriarch can help us accelerate our global business and to transform today’s company into the grand global business I know we can be.”