Health food chain Holland & Barrett has been bought by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, in a deal worth £1.8 billion.
Fridman’s fund L1 Retail announced the acquisition of the 1,150 store chain from US private equity firm Carlyle on Monday, and is expected to close in September.
It is the first purchase by L1 Retail, which was established in 2016. Managing partner Stephan DuCharme commented:
“Holland & Barrett is a clear market leader in the UK health and wellness retail market, with attractive growth positions in other European and international markets.
“We believe that the company is well positioned to benefit from structural growth in the growing £10 billion health and wellness market and has multiple levers for long-term growth and value creation.”
Holland & Barrett was founded in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire and employs more than 4,000 people. It has been owned by Carlyle since 2010, when they acquired the chain as part of their acquisition of US business Nature’s Bounty for $3.8 billion.
The firm’s chief executive, Peter Aldis, is expected to stay on in his role. He said: “We are delighted to now be in partnership with the L1 Retail team and its advisory board of internationally-renowned retailers.”