Iovate Health Sciences International, Inc. announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to receive a majority equity investment from Shenzhen-listed Xiwang Foodstuffs Co., Ltd. (“Xiwang Food”). The transaction will accelerate Iovate’s growth in China and provide its brands with significant product expansion globally.
The Iovate Executive Team states, “Over the last 20 years, our teams at Iovate have built a business that has given our brands an industry-leading position in North America and throughout the world. Through this strategic partnership with well-established consumer products leader Xiwang, we now have the unique opportunity to accelerate our international growth, particularly in the China market. MuscleTech is already gaining significant momentum in China, and this partnership solidifies that position into what we believe will deliver significant growth in a reasonably short period of time.”
Iovate will maintain its North American headquarters in Oakville, Canada. All Executives and Senior Leaders, as well as its 330 existing employees, will remain in place to take the business to the next level of growth. At the close of this transaction, Iovate’s CEO will maintain a significant ownership stake in Iovate and will remain on as CEO.
The proposed transaction is subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, including customary regulatory approvals in Canada and China. The transaction is expected to close later in the calendar year.
Houlihan Lokey is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Iovate and assisting in structuring and negotiating the transaction. Goodmans LLP is serving as the legal advisor to Iovate.
Founded in 1995 and based in Oakville, Canada, Iovate is a dynamic, leading-edge nutritional company that delivers some of the highest quality, most innovative and effective active nutrition products in the world. With brand innovations like MuscleTech, Six Star Pro Nutrition, Purely Inspired and Hydroxycut, the company is committed to being the number one active nutrition and weight management supplement company in the world. Iovate distributes across all major channels of distribution, including food, drug, mass and club, health food stores and online, as well as in more than 130 countries worldwide. Iovate products are available nationwide at GNC, The Vitamin Shoppe, Bodybuilding.com, WalMart, Target, Walgreen’s, Sam’s Club, Amazon.com and other fine retailers.
Founded in 2007 and based in Shandong Province, China, Xiwang Food is the leading Chinese player in healthy consumable oils such as corn oil and flaxseed oil. Xiwang Food has a vast sales and distribution network, selling its products in more than 85,000 mass merchandise stores and over 2,000 drug stores in China. Xiwang Food is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZ000639) since 2011 and currently has more than 5,000 employees. Xiwang Food is a subsidiary of Xiwang Group Company Limited (“Xiwang Group”), a large industrial enterprise company that also maintains investments in specialty steel, real estate, energy and beverages, among other sectors. Xiwang Group is ranked among the 500 largest companies in China with consolidated revenue in excess of $5 billion.
