February 2025
We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you: VIP has entered into a strategic capital partnership with Warburg Pincus, one of the world's leading private equity firms. We selected Warburg for many reasons, but the primary reasons are that they are dedicated to taking care of the customer and are focused on growth. Warburg Pincus also has an employee culture that perfectly aligns with VIP's.
As a 100% employee-owned company for the last 20 years, VIP has experienced tremendous growth, both organically and through acquisitions. This has cemented our role as the technology leader in the beverage industry. However, this success, coupled with future projections, meant that we had a considerable repurchase obligation to the vested employees when they leave or retire. At some point in the near future, the repurchase obligation would have consumed all of our cash and limited our ability to continue expanding.
While we are no longer employee-owned, we’re proud of this history, and our mission remains unchanged: to take care of our customers while providing the best solutions in the industry. We are excited for the next chapter and will continue to maintain the high standards you've come to expect from us. VIP will still be led by Dan Byrnes and the current leadership team. Warburg will not be involved in VIP's day-to-day operations, but under their ownership, we will have significant software and technology resources available to help us when we ask.
By joining forces with Warburg, we will have the opportunity to invest more in our growth—whether through acquisitions that were out of our reach, expanding our product offerings, enhancing our software, and improving our customer experience. This allows us to better serve your needs and deliver even greater value moving forward.
We look forward to the next chapter for all of us.
