Huel, the protein shake maker which counts the actor Idris Elba among its investors, has agreed to be acquired by the French consumer goods group Danone in a deal worth about €1bn (£870m).
The British company, which makes food powders, snack bars and meals from a blend of plant-based ingredients and fortified with vitamins, started out selling its powders online. It is now available in more than 25,000 stores around the world.
The Huel co-founder Julian Hearn owns between 25% and 50% of the business, according to filings at Companies House, meaning the takeover could land him a payday of between €250m and €500m.
He started the business in 2015 with the nutrition specialist James Collier, and remains one of the biggest shareholders in the business. Elba and his wife, Sabrina, have also invested in Huel, alongside the TV presenter Jonathan Ross. The size of their stakes in the business have not been disclosed but the deal will likely give them a significant payout.
The company’s chief executive, James McMaster, said the €1bn deal marked the “next step” for Huel, a contraction of “human fuel”.
“With Danone, we will now have the infrastructure, distribution and R&D capability to go further, into new markets and to more people, as demand for convenient, complete nutrition continues to grow. We’re so proud of what the team has built, and excited about what comes next,” he said.
Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett has also been a champion for Huel and was a director at the business. In 2024, Huel was slapped on the wrist by the advertising watchdog for failing to disclose its commercial relationship with Bartlett in Facebook promotions.
Bartlett stepped down from his role as director at Huel last year, according to filings at Companies House.
The acquisition is the latest effort by Danone, which also produces Evian water and Activia yoghurt, to grow in the booming “functional nutrition” market, driven by demand for personalised nutrition and gut health products. Shares in Danone, which is listed in Paris, slipped 0.9% in early trading on Monday.
Huel, which is headquartered in Tring, Hertfordshire and employs about 300 people, has grown in popularity among time-poor urban professionals, as well as GLP-1 weight-loss drug users. It made £13.8m in pre-tax profit on revenues of £214m in 2024, according to its latest annual accounts at Companies House. Revenues rose to more than £250m the following year, with profit margins of about 10%.
Hearn’s first entrepreneurial venture was an affiliate marketing company hosting vouchers online, Mash Up Media. He formed the group in 2008 and sold to the US company Internet Brands in 2011.
The co-founder, who also acts as Huel’s chief marketing officer, said that at this point he “could have retired” aged 40, but ultimately pivoted to the health industry.
Elsewhere, Applied Nutrition, one of Huel’s competitors in the UK, told investors on Monday that its sales and pre-tax profit had risen by more than 50% in the six months ended in January. However, its shares dropped by as much as 13% after it warned that the war in Iran could disrupt its trading in the second half of the year.