Dutch food and nutrition group Royal Numico has announced that it has reached an agreement on the sale of its U.S. nutritional supplements company GNC to private investment firm Apollo Management for $750 million

Food & Drink Weekly, Oct 27, 2003

Dutch food and nutrition group Royal Numico has announced that it has reached an agreement on the sale of its U.S. nutritional supplements company GNC to private investment firm Apollo Management for $750 million. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2003, the company said.

"With the intended sale of GNC, Numico will sharpen its focus on its core businesses, baby food and clinical nutrition, to achieve the objective of becoming a high-growth, high-margin specialized nutrition company," said Jan Bennink, CEO of Numico. "The divestment has many advantages for Numico: it will significantly reduce the risk level, both financially and operationally, provides us with more financial flexibility and allows management to focus completely on maximizing profitable growth in both baby food and clinical nutrition," Bennink said.