Mitsui & Co. and Rohto Pharmaceutical Co. agreed to buy Eu Yan Sang International Ltd., in a deal valuing the traditional Chinese medicine company at $800 million.
The Japanese companies will acquire an 86% stake in Eu Yan Sang and launch a takeover bid for the remaining 14%, Mitsui said in a statement on Thursday, confirming a Bloomberg News report last week. The acquisition is expected to close around the end of June.
Mid-market private equity firm Tower Capital Asia Pte, Temasek Holdings Pte’s unit Blanca Investments Pte and members of Eu Yan Sang’s founding family had been considering selling their majority holding, Bloomberg News reported last year.
The founding family will reinvest partially in the holding company set up by Mitsui and Rohto to hold their stake in Eu Yan Sang, according to the statement. If the holding company ends up with 100% of the business, Mitsui will hold an effective stake of about 30% in Eu Yan Sang, Rohto will have about 60% and the family will hold 10%.
Singapore-headquartered Eu Yan Sang has been in business for 145 years, according to its website. It has roughly 900 products, including bottled bird’s nest for general health purposes, Bak Foong pills for women’s health, Bo Ying compound for infants and Hou Ning powder to relieve coughing. The firm has retail outlets in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore.
