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SLOUGH, England — Reckitt Benckiser Group has made a $1.4 billion tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of vitamins and nutritional supplements maker Schiff Nutrition International Inc.
The United Kingdom-based consumer products company said Friday that its offer is subject to Schiff and its controlling stockholders terminating their merger and related agreements with Bayer HealthCare, which in late October announced a deal to buy Schiff for $1.2 billion.
Reckitt Benckiser said its offer of $42 per share in cash represents a premium of 23.5% over the $34-per-share transaction unveiled by Bayer on Oct. 30. The tender offer expires Dec. 14.
"Reckitt Benckiser is confident that it can close the tender offer before the end of calendar year 2012, provided it is permitted in short order to complete limited confirmatory due diligence," the company said.
Schiff’s vitamin, minerals and supplements (VMS) product portfolio includes a number of market-leading brands in the specialist product category in the United States, including MegaRed (heart health), Move Free (joint care), Airborne (immune support) and Schiff Vitamins, Reckitt Benckiser noted.
"This acquisition would provide a powerful entryway into the large and rapidly growing $30 billion global VMS market," commented Rakesh Kapoor, Reckitt Benckiser’s chief executive officer. "This market would be the largest consumer health care sector in which we operate. It is an ideal addition to Reckitt Benckiser’s new strategic focus in global health and hygiene and would give us immediate scale in VMS in the USA. It also plays well to our consumer marketing, innovation and go to market capabilities."
He continued, "We are confident that the VMS market drivers, notably changing demographics and increased awareness of the health and wellness benefits of VMS products, will provide significant long-term growth potential in what is currently a very fragmented market."
