When Chad Janis had the idea to sell gummy-bear-shaped nutritional supplements four years ago, he had to convince manufacturers it could be done and retailers that customers would prefer his green gummies.

He didn’t know how right he was.

His brand, Grüns (from the German word for greens) now ships around 10 million gummies every day, and this week, London-based conglomerate Unilever announced it was acquiring Grüns for an estimated $1.2 billion.

The 33-year-old former private equity investor has now cemented his place in the consumer packaged goods industry as a founder who has secured one of the sector’s best—and quickest—exits in the past decade. The Beaverton, Oregon-based Grüns currently has some one million customers and its superfood gummy bear is the top-selling green supplement on Amazon and across retailers nationwide.

“We didn’t build it to sell it. But we want to make an impact on millions of people’s lives,” Janis tells Forbes. “We think [Unilever has] a track record of brands that have success and they help them have more impact. They’ve done it multiple times before with peers we look up to.”

Forbes estimates Unilever is paying an implied multiple of 4 times estimated trailing revenue, which is among the highest deal multiple of any consumer packaged good transaction in the past year.

Janis retained, Forbes estimates, about 50% ownership in the business, after raising an estimated $45 million from outside investors,........

© Forbes