EAS up for grabs?

The Post credits unnamed sources familiar with the situation as responsible for the information about EAS - the company owned by the private equity firm North Castle Partners and a leading producer of diet bars, protein shakes and energy supplements, including the brands EAS HP, Myoplex, AdvantEdge and Pirahna.

The Post writes that the Colerado based company has hired UBS to handle the sale and that a round of bids is due to take place later this week.

Possible bidders for the firm are suggested to include food companies such as Nestlé, Kellogg, PepsiCo and Kraft Foods, as well as candy makers like Wm. Wrigley Jr., Hershey Foods and Mars. And a small group of buyout firms, including Blackstone Group, Ripplewood Holdings, Harvest Partners and AEA Investors, are also expected to show up at the bidding.

North Castle is said to want to complete a deal before the end of the year.EAS has seen its sales and EBITDA more than triple in the last five years, and the company is expected to generate $340 million in sales and roughly $38 million to $40 million in EBITDA this year.

In March 2003, EAS turned its back on the epherda-based product sector by launching a new fat-burning supplement called ThermoDynamX, in the light of consumer concern, and before the FDA officially banned ephedra in April last year.