SAZERAC TO ACQUIRE BUZZBALLZ BRAND

Drinks company Sazerac has announced plans to acquire Southern Champion’s ready-to-drink portfolio, including BuzzBallz, the spherical wine-, spirit- and malt-based cocktail brand. Along with BuzzBallz, Sazerac will acquire other Southern Champion brands, including Biggies, Uptown Cocktails, Sip Sip Hooray, and Texas Craft, among others. BuzzBallz was started in 2009 when founder Merrilee Kick was still a high school teacher, then studying for her MBA. The more than decade-old company has grown to be a more than $1 billion company with distribution in all 50 states and 27 countries. Over the last 52 weeks (ending February 24), BuzzBallz dollar sales in off-premise channels increased +45.2%, and volume increased +42.8%. Dollar sales for BuzzBallz Biggies, the company’s 1.75 liter package, increased +342% in the period, with nearly as much in dollar sales as the original brand ($14.3 million), while volume increased +328.9%. BuzzBallz also introduced malt-based versions of its RTDs last year, helping expand its distribution opportunities, including more placements in c-stores and grocery. The malt-based versions recorded $595,883 in dollar sales in the past 52 weeks in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels. Merrilee Kick will continue to guide the brand as CEO once the deal closes.