NEWTON, MASS. — Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based private investment firm, will acquire a majority stake in Spindrift Beverage Co., Inc., a sparkling water maker that formulates its beverages with “real squeezed fruit.” Dave Burwick will lead Spindrift as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Bill Creelman, founder and current CEO of Spindrift.

Creelman, who founded Spindrift in 2010, will become chair of Spindrift’s board. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. However, Creelman and the management team will retain a significant equity stake, according to the company.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built at Spindrift over the past 15 years,” Creelman said. “For this next stage of growth, we looked for two things: a leader who could understand our business and the brand as natively as the people who work here today and an investment partner with the right financial and operational resources to galvanize our market leadership. I have known and respected Dave for nearly a decade, and with his experience and Gryphon Investors’ expertise, I’m confident that we will continue to have tremendous success in growing the brand and inspiring consumers to choose beverages that are based on the belief that the best tastes come directly from nature.”

Burwick joins the company from The Boston Beer Co., where he most recently was president and CEO.

Previously, Burwick was president and CEO of Peet’s Coffee and earlier president, North America at Weight Watchers. He also was with PepsiCo, Inc. for approximately 20 years holding several leadership roles in marketing.

“Spindrift has a strong, beloved brand and differentiated product portfolio because it’s made with exceptional thought and care,” said Ryan Fagan, managing director at Gryphon. “This attention to quality underlies the company’s outsized share of growth across beverage categories — nearly tripling in size since 2020 — and it’s what attracted us to invest in the business. We are thrilled to be partnering with both Bill and Dave, as well as the entire Spindrift team.”

Matt Farron, partner and head of consumer group at Gryphon, and Mike Ferry, also partner at Gryphon and Fagan, will join Spindrift’s board.

Spindrift raised $20 million in a Series B-2 funding round led by private equity firm VMG Partners in March 2018. That round was used to launch the company’s first national advertising campaign.

Spindrift is currently the only food and beverage business in Gryphon investor’s portfolio. Past food and beverage investments have included Dessert Holdings and Flagstone Foods.