Red Bull and Charlie's form sales partnership

Juice company Charlie's and energy drink brand Red Bull have have struck a national sales and distribution deal they hope will give them the juice to take on the big boys in the local beverage market.

Red Bull today said it would from today, partner up with fresh squeezed juice company Charlie's, which is about to list on the sharemareket, "to provide supermarkets and wholesalers with a new representation arrangement".

Red Bull said the arrangement followed Charlie's recent decision to bring their sales and distribution operations in-house and roll out a full sales network throughout the country.

Red Bull spokesman Paul Elsom said the partnership was "quite a major move".

" Both companies are very much like "David" in the market and this partnership will help us to grow in the face of the "Goliaths" Coca-Cola and Frucor".

Charlie's managing director Stefan Lepionka said the combined Charlie's Red Bull sales model would enable the companies to " achieve the standard of service the trade requires in building a successful relationship".

"These premium brands (Charlie's and Red Bull) give us the opportunity to compete on a service level supported by a premium product offering," Mr Lepionka said.

The partnership was a great opportunity to improve both brands' performance in areas of in-store activity, point of sale, merchandising and promotional activity.

Today's announcement comes as Charlie's prepares its sharemarket debut via a back-door listing.

It is hoped the $16.6 million deal between Charlie's -- a company made famous by former All Black Marc Ellis, who is a director and listed firm Spectrum Resources will be finalised this week.

If the deal proceeds, Mr Ellis and Mr Lepionka would each pocket about $5 million in shares and would be major shareholders of the new firm.

It would be the second time Mr Lepionka had squeezed rewards from the sale of a juice company.

In 1994, Mr Lepionka sold his pioneering fresh juice business Stefan's to Frucor.

- NZPA