Nestle said to be in talks to acquire LI-based Bountiful Co.
The Bountiful Company makes vitamins and herbal and mineral supplements under brands including the Nature's Bounty. Credit: Barry Sloan
Swiss food giant Nestle SA reportedly is in talks to acquire Long Island-based Bountiful Company, which filed for an initial public offering earlier this month.
A spokeswoman for The Bountiful Company, which makes vitamins and herbal and mineral supplements under The Nature's Bounty, Puritan's Pride and Solgar brands, declined to comment on the report.
A spokesman for Bountiful's majority owner, Manhattan-based private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc., also declined to comment as did a spokesman for Nestle.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that acquisition talks were underway that would value Ronkonkoma-based Bountiful Company "in the mid-single digit billions."
The Bountiful Company, which posted net sales of $2.01 billion in fiscal 2020, had about 4,150 employees worldwide as of Sept. 30.
The company, founded in 1971 as Nature's Bounty Inc., changed its name to NBTY Inc. 24 years later and to The Nature's Bounty Co. in 2016.
The Bountiful Company name was adopted in January.
Private equity firm the Carlyle Group took the company private in 2010 and sold a controlling interest to KKR in 2017.
The Bountiful Company planned to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "BTFL," according to the IPO filing.
In 2018, the company announced plans to invest $33 million for expansion and to preserve 1,924 jobs at its Ronkonkoma headquarters and 10 other facilities in Suffolk County.
In its IPO filing, Bountiful Company identified China, Western Europe, South Korea and the United Kingdom as target global markets that had strong potential growth.
Nestle, based in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland, bills itself as the "world's largest food and beverage company," with more than 2,000 brands.
Nestle's brands include Nescafe coffee, Gerber baby food, Purina pet food and KitKat candy bars.
Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.
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