This week’s big news across the global nutrition and supplements industries includes the acquisition of The Vitamin Shoppe, Green Bioactives’ new funds from Scottish Enterprise and Sirio Pharma’s new Shanghai-based longevity lab.
Private equity firms to acquire The Vitamin Shoppe
Kingswood Capital Management and Performance Investment Partners announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement through which an affiliate will acquire The Vitamin Shoppe from Franchise Group.
“We are excited to partner with The Vitamin Shoppe team and help them build upon the success the business has enjoyed over the last 48 years,” Kingswood Partner Michael Niegsch and PIP Partner Mark Genender shared in a joint statement.
“We plan to make significant investments in the company’s third-party brand relationships, research and development across The Vitamin Shoppe’s owned proprietary brand portfolio, upgrades to the store fleet and improvements to the omni-channel digital platform to deliver the best possible experience to customers.”
Details of the transaction, which is expected to close later in the second quarter of this year pending a bankruptcy judge’s approval, were not disclosed. Bloomberg Law reported the cost of the deal at $193.5 million.
Green Bioactives secures £1.1 million grant for plant cell culture platform
Edinburgh-based Green Bioactives announced it had secured a grant of up to £1.1 million from Scottish Enterprise to support an 18-month research and development initiative focused on the production and initial scale-up of natural products that are derived from plant cell culture.
The company focuses on developing natural plant-based wellness ingredients by collecting plant samples, cleaning and cultivating stem cells, and scaling production in bioreactors to extract beneficial compounds.
“Over the next two years—particularly during the 18-month span of this grant—we plan to scale up our production,” Chris Meaney, chief business officer at Green Bioactives, told NutraIngredients. “But rather than jumping straight to a much larger 1,000-liter reactor, which would involve an entirely new set of challenges and a steep learning curve, we’ve chosen a more modular approach.”
“We’re not trying to replace bulk commodities, we’re working with high-value ingredients, and by running several 50-liter systems in parallel, we’ll be able to start selling products into the market and servicing customers much sooner.”
Sirio Pharma sets up longevity lab in Shanghai
Sirio Pharma is doubling down efforts on anti-aging and longevity science research, setting up an internal lab within its Shanghai R&D center and expecting to launch products co-developed with clients and external institutions later this year.
The internal lab comprises a specialized team that focuses on aging research and how novel ingredients could be used to develop synergistic formulations and products for supporting anti-aging and healthy longevity.
The aging research will target four key areas, namely cellular health, probiotics and gut health, muscle health and the reproductive system.
More specifically, the research will look at enhancing cellular health, the role of probiotics in reducing the aging process and the development of novel supplement formulations to address muscle loss and ovary functional decline during aging.
Research will also be conducted to find out the biological mechanisms of aging and how they can be modulated.
“While most of the research will be conducted in China, we will also collaborate with research institutions worldwide, leveraging Sirio’s existing global R&D infrastructure to explore new bioactive ingredients, formulations, and scientific validation methods,” said Dr. Youyou Zhao, assistant vice president and global head of research and development at Sirio Pharma.
