Table of Contents
SLOUGH, England — Reckitt Benckiser Group has signed an agreement to acquire Schiff Nutrition International Inc. in a $1.4 billion deal.
The agreement comes less than a week after Reckitt Benckiser announced a tender offer to buy all of the outstanding shares of Schiff for $42 per share in cash. Reckitt’s offer led Bayer HealthCare early this week to forgo its $1.2 billion deal to acquire Schiff, announced in late October.
Reckitt Benckiser’s per-share offer represented a premium of 23.5% over Bayer’s $34-per-share bid.
According to Reckitt Benckiser, Schiff’s board has approved the acquisition agreement and will recommend that its stockholders tender their shares into Reckitt Benckiser’s cash tender offer, which is set to expire Dec. 14 unless extended.
Schiff is a leading provider of branded vitamins, dietary supplements and nutrition bars, including such well-known brands as MegaRed (heart health), Move Free (joint care) and Airborne (immune support).
"We are very pleased to have reached a mutually beneficial agreement with Schiff and are excited to enter the $30 billion global vitamins, minerals and supplements market with such a strong portfolio of high quality branded business in the USA," stated Rakesh Kapoor, Reckitt Benckiser’s chief executive officer. " Schiff’s portfolio is an excellent fit with our strategic focus on health and hygiene, where in health care in the USA we already have Mucinex, Delsym, Cepacol and Durex as major brands.
"The subcategories within which Schiff operates have strong growth momentum," Kapoor added, "and to this we expect to combine Reckitt Benckiser’s strong go-to-market capabilities as well as proven skills in branding, innovation and consumer communication and education."
Reckitt Benckiser’s roster of health, hygiene and home product brands includes Mucinex, Durex, Nurofen, Strepsils Gaviscon, Scholl, Lysol, Dettol, Clearasil, Veet, Harpic, Bang, Mortein and Finish.
