A joint venture of Japanese beer maker Sapporo International and a member company of the Toyota Group has agreed to purchase juice maker Country Pure Foods Inc., which has a plant in Ellington, the parties announced.
Sapporo and Toyota Tsusho America will merge Country Pure with their U.S. subsidiary, Florida-based juice maker Silver Springs Citrus.
Terms of the deal, which is expected to close before the end of January, were not disclosed.
Toyota bought Silver Springs in 1994. Sapporo bought a 51 percent stake in 2012.
Country Pure, owned by private equity firm Mistral Equity Partners, is headquartered in Ohio and also has facilities in Florida and Texas. The manufacturer said last year that it employed 125 workers in Ellington.
Raymond Lee will remain on as Country Pure’s president and CEO.
