Next Century Spirits has acquired hard seltzer start-up Xed Beverages in the US.
The North Carolina-based company confirmed the purchase, for an undisclosed sum, earlier this week. Subsequently, Xed’s Hape and Sesh alcoholic sparkling water brands will be folded into Next Century’s portfolio, which added TruthTeller 1839 Bourbon to its ranks two months ago.
Xed came into being in 2019, releasing Sesh to four test markets in the US last year, prior to a wider roll-out to 11 states. The brand is positioned as “cocktail meets seltzer” and includes Gin & Tonic, Mojito, Moscow Mule and Paloma variants. All four carry a 6% ABV.
The company also unveiled Hape Sake Spritz, another hard seltzer, in California earlier this year.
In July, Next Century confirmed three internal promotions of executives with previous experience at Beam Suntory, Diageo and Pernod Ricard. While the company operates a patented “post-distillation filtering and finishing” business, it also owns Bear Fight single malt and Creek Water American whiskies.
