Orange Juice raises $40M to buy U.S. firms, offer sellers stock

Orange Juice Holdings launched as a permanent-capital holding company in Connecticut after raising $40 million to acquire U.S. businesses with $1 million to $10 million in annual revenue. The firm plans to hold acquired companies indefinitely, use their cash flow to fund further purchases and to accumulate Bitcoin in a corporate treasury.

The company was founded by Jeff Booth, Lyn Alden, Nico Lechuga and Andi Pitt. Adrian Steckel is involved and Ruben Zweiban will run day-to-day operations. Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas participated as the anchor investor.

Orange Juice plans to pay some sellers partly in privately held Orange Juice shares. The firm says seller equity will initially be illiquid. An eventual public listing is a stated goal, but the company has not set a timeline for a listing.

The company’s acquisition model is built around a repeating sequence: buy cash-generating companies, pay sellers partly with stock, keep operating cash flow to fund more acquisitions and buy Bitcoin, grow the treasury, list publicly and then use liquid shares as currency for further deals. If public-market investors assign a premium to the listed shares, the company could use equity to buy additional businesses at lower cash cost.

National business ownership trends provide context for Orange Juice’s target market. About 2.9 million U.S. businesses are owned by people 55 or older, supporting 32.1 million workers and producing roughly $6.5 trillion in revenue. Research also finds that only about 20% to 30% of businesses that go up for sale find a buyer.

Orange Juice’s plan replaces some cash payments with private stock to retiring founders and aims to use the cash flow of acquired businesses to support growth and build a Bitcoin reserve. Before any listing, shares given to sellers will be private and illiquid. Their value will depend on the operating results of the acquired businesses and the market price of Bitcoin.

The company’s structure carries specific risks. Sellers accepting Orange Juice stock will receive minority stakes in a diversified holding company rather than concentrated ownership of the single business they sold. Private shares may be hard to convert to cash until a public market is available. If acquired businesses underperform, Bitcoin prices fall, or public markets decline to give the firm a valuation premium, the stock component of payouts could lose attractiveness.

Companies that used public-market listings as a path to build Bitcoin treasuries relied on shares trading above the value of their digital assets to raise capital and buy more Bitcoin. When that premium disappeared in some cases, firms faced constraints on growth and some sold Bitcoin to raise cash. One listed company sold about $218 million of Bitcoin this year to fund dividends and rebuild dollar reserves.

Orange Juice differs from pure Bitcoin-treasury companies because it will hold operating businesses that generate cash. The plan to use equity as acquisition currency depends on later public-market liquidity and favorable valuation conditions. If public investors do not value the company at a premium on a listing, Orange Juice would still be able to buy companies but would likely pay more in cash for acquisitions.