Pacific Equity Partners seeks buyer for Cranky Health, owner of The Man Shake
Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) is looking to offload Cranky Health, the parent company behind The Man Shake and The Lady Shake weight-loss product ranges. The Sydney-based buyout firm has hired an adviser to run a strategic review of the business, which is expected to lead to a formal sale process in coming weeks.
PEP took a controlling stake in Cranky Health in January 2022. The investment has since been written down below cost, with the business hit hard by the rapid uptake of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro across Australia.
Transaction snapshot
Deal value: PEP invested $200 million for a controlling stake. The firm told limited partners in April 2025 that the business was worth less than its initial outlay. Sale price is yet to be determined.
Deal multiples: N/A
Deal type: Divestiture (PE exit via strategic review / sale process)
Investors: Pacific Equity Partners (Fund VI, $2.5 billion vehicle); co-invested alongside founders Adam and Belinda MacDougall
Cranky Health was founded in 2013 by Adam MacDougall, a former NRL player with the Newcastle Knights, and his wife Belinda. MacDougall created The Man Shake after retiring from rugby league as a convenient meal replacement option. The product range expanded to include The Lady Shake, along with shake powders, snack bars, and drinks.
The business operates a predominantly direct-to-consumer model through its own website. It also has national retail distribution through grocery chains and pharmacies.
PEP moved quickly after acquiring the business to expand Cranky Health's brand portfolio and invest in manufacturing capability. However, that growth plan was derailed by the explosion in GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs. Over half a million Australians are now taking GLP-1 medications every month. Sales of GLP-1 drugs in Australia increased almost tenfold from May 2020 to April 2025, reaching approximately half a million units sold each month. In the year to April 2025, more than six million units were sold in Australia. The drugs, championed by influencers and celebrities as an easy path to weight loss, have fundamentally disrupted the traditional meal-replacement category.
The financial pressure on Cranky Health is significant. PEP disclosed to limited partners in a quarterly update in April 2025 that the business was worth less than the $200 million it had originally invested. The business is also reported to be approximately 25 times leveraged.
