Health chain in huge deal
FAST growing Nuneaton health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett has been bought in a huge £1.77billion deal.
Retail investment fund L1 Retail, run by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, has acquired the business from the Nature’s Bounty Co and the Carlyle Group.
Holland & Barrett was founded in 1870 and has grown to be Europe’s largest health and wellness retail chain with 1,150 stores around the world.
L1 Retail is the retail investment arm of LetterOne and the transaction is due to close by September this year subject to regulatory approval.
Headquartered in Nuneaton, Holland & Barrett’s saw annual revenues last year of more than £610million.
The company has enjoyed sustained growth over an eight-year period, opening new stores and investing in its online sales platform.
It has increased its presence significantly in Scandinavia and developed a partnership with Tesco.
Peter Aldis, CEO, Holland & Barrett, said: “We are delighted to now be in partnership with the L1 Retail team and its advisory board of internationally- renowned retailers.
“We have upgraded much of our core store portfolio to concept stores to deliver additional in-store theatre and increased customer engagement.
“New products launched through our ethical sourcing programme have also been a key growth driver helping to underpin our substantial investment to gain presence across an increasingly global health and wellness market.
“Carlyle has been a great partner for Holland & Barrett over the last few years, investing in the brand, our people, and next generation technology, which has driven our growth.”
L1 retail managing partner Stephan DuCharme said: “We look forward to working with Peter Aldis and his strong management team.
“We believe that the company is well positioned to benefit from structural growth in the growing £10 billion health and wellness market and has multiple levers for long term growth and value creation.”
Steve Cahillane, president & CEO, the Nature’s Bounty Co, said: ”We are proud of the growth in both sales and market share that Peter Aldis and all associates at Holland & Barrett have achieved in the past seven years.
“This is due to their high standards of delivery and to the investments supported by Carlyle notably in new product development, store relocations and refurbishments.”
Marco De Benedetti, managing director and co-head, Carlyle Europe Partners advisory team, said: “It has been a privilege to work with Peter and his talented management team over the past seven years.
“We have invested heavily in the Holland & Barrett brand, built an innovation pipeline, opened over 300 new stores, built an industry leading omni channel platform, and expanded the business internationally. This has delivered 32 quarters of consecutive like-for-like growth and sustainable financial performance.”