Vitamins and supplements retailer makes multi-million pound acquisition

Yorkshire-based online vitamins and supplements retailer, Bigvits, has acquired a majority stake in Dutch firm By Nature, which will grow revenues across the group to over £18m this year.

By Nature sells health and supplement products across Europe from the Netherlands.

The acquisition brings new opportunities to both businesses, whilst giving Bigvits a strategic footprint in the EU post Brexit.

Patrick Leu remains CEO of By Nature, which has grown significantly since it was founded in 2015.

Will Brennand, joint managing director of Bigvits, said: “The health and wellness sector is experiencing strong global growth from increased consumer awareness and a focus on personal health and wellness due to Covid-19.

“We’ve been working with By Nature for a number of years and Bigvits is delighted with the acquisition.

“We are extremely excited to build on their European success and to grow our businesses together.”

Leu added “We have a number of exciting opportunities to pursue and we look forward to putting our plans into place alongside Bigvits.

“It is very much business as usual for both companies and our focus now is targeting further European growth.”

On Brexit, Brennand said: “Brexit or no Brexit, this strategic acquisition makes perfect sense for our ambitious plans. Our mission is to become the largest independent distributor of quality vitamins in Europe.

“Since 1 January, exporting into the EU has been a huge challenge for UK businesses, with little support from the Government and no rule book or roadmaps to follow.

“We prepared as best we could and are fortunate to have a solution focused team. We’ve also found great support from our advisor network, which has enabled Bigvits to successfully navigate through the past three months.

“Longer term, the Brexit dust will settle but as a business, we’ve decided to go one step further in acquiring a company and distribution centre in Europe.

“Our European customers can therefore rest assured that Bigvits is here to deliver quality products, with minimal disruption moving forward.”

Despite recent Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions, the acquisition was made possible with the support of BHP Corporate Finance (Financial Modelling and Due Diligence), TeekensKarstens (Legal) and Bentacera (Tax) and senior term debt and working capital facility provided by Caple and Floryn respectively.

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