Catalent to Buy Supplement Maker Bettera Holdings for $1 Billion
Deal would add high-growth gummy vitamins and supplements to the contract drug manufacturer’s portfolio
Contract drug manufacturer Catalent Inc. CTLT -0.35% is expected to announce Monday that it has agreed to buy closely held Bettera Holdings LLC for $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest deal involving nutritional supplement companies.
The all-cash deal, which is expected to be announced Monday morning, would expand Catalent’s manufacturing capabilities for vitamins, minerals and supplements to make them in gummy form, the people said. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the fourth quarter.
Bettera, based in Plano, Texas, and backed by private-equity firm Highlander Partners LP, manufactures gummy, soft-chew and lozenge forms of vitamins and supplements. Bettera has about 500 employees.
Bettera’s sales last year totaled about $150 million, according to the people, and are forecast to grow at least 20% annually in the short term.
Gummy vitamins and supplements, initially created and marketed for children, are increasingly popular among adults, especially younger demographics. The global gummy vitamins market is projected to reach $9.3 billion by 2026, compared with $5.7 billion in 2018, according to an Allied Market Research report released last year.
The Catalent deal is the latest tie-up involving the vitamin and supplement industry. In April, Nestlé SA agreed to buy the main brands of vitamins maker Bountiful Co. for $5.75 billion. Unilever UL -0.41% PLC also said in April it would buy food-supplement brand Onnit.
Catalent, of Somerset, N.J., has helped manufacture Covid-19 vaccines and treatments for several companies. Shares of the company have more than doubled since health authorities declared the pandemic in March 2020. The stock closed at nearly $130 on Friday.
Catalent, which develops and manufactures drugs for pharmaceutical companies, had about $3.1 billion in sales last year.
Before the pandemic, Chief Executive John Chiminski was trying to build up the company’s capabilities by acquiring companies, or plants, in markets with high-growth potential, such as gene therapies, where it didn’t previously have a presence. Among the deals in recent years was a $1.2 billion acquisition in 2019 for Paragon Bioservices Inc.