1 February, 2018
Baker McKenzie has acted for privately-owned Australian probiotic market leader Life-Space Group owners having entered into a binding agreement for the sale of 100% of its shares to China-based BY-HEALTH Group (BY-HEALTH). The transaction is subject to customary shareholder and regulatory approvals and implies an enterprise value for Life-Space Group of up to AUD $690 million.
Life-Space Group (www.life-spacegroup.com.au) is one of the largest probiotics companies in Australia. It operates the Evolution Health and Ultramix businesses, and owns Life-Space – the market leading probiotic brand sold in China and Australia. In addition, the company owns or distributes Healthy Essentials, Elmore Oil and Corams – a diverse brand portfolio in the natural health, joint and muscular pain relief and infant and baby care categories.
Baker McKenzie lead partner on the transaction, Richard Lustig stated: "We are delighted to act for our client, the Life-Space Group owners, in what is a terrific transaction providing significant scale and future growth potential to the business."
Richard further commented: "Thanks to the global reach of Baker McKenzie, we were able to successfully coalesce legal talent from both our Melbourne and overseas offices to reach a great outcome."
The Life-Space brand is the market leading probiotic brand in Chemist Warehouse, Australia’s largest pharmacy retailer, and has become highly recognised by Chinese consumers by virtue of its product quality and attributes.
BY-HEALTH (www.by-health.com), founded in 1995, is a substantial Chinese company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. BY-HEALTH has grown into a leading brand and iconic company in the Chinese dietary supplement market.
Richard was assisted by a Baker McKenzie team comprising: Tracy Wut (Hong Kong), Toby Patten (Melbourne), Nicole Edwards (Melbourne), Lucinda Atkinson (Melbourne), Robert Wright (HongKong), and Rowena Baer (Melbourne).
