【英语财经】合生元收购澳洲维生素厂商 Chinese baby products group buys Swisse Wellness

Biostime, a Guangzhou-based, Hong Kong-listed paediatric nutrition and baby care products company, has paid A$1.386bn for a controlling 83 per cent equity interest in Swisse Wellness, a private maker of health supplements in Australia and New Zealand.

Gross profits at Biostime have grown from Rmb138m in 2007 to nearly Rmb3bn last year. Demand for its baby products, sourced from Europe, swelled after the 2008 melamine scandal in China, which caused parents to shun local infant products as unsafe.

The Swisse deal, expected to be completed this month, should help Biostime expand beyond infant products and tap into growing demand for health products in China.

Swisse has been increasing its geographical footprint in recent years into Europe, Asia and Latin America, signing joint venture agreements with Procter & Gamble and Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

Ms Kidman became a "global ambassador" for the company in 2013, marketing "inner balance" products in ads where she flaunts a happy, healthy lifestyle by giggling in open fields.

Swisse has roots going back to the 1960s when Kevin Ring, its founder, took a trip to Switzerland and came back inspired about natural medicines. By the late 1980s Swisse had developed more than 200 products, then hit a "milestone" when it launched the Swisse Women's Ultivite, which it calls the Rolls-Royce of women's multivitamins. A men's version soon followed.

Swisse appointed its first chief executive, Radek Sali, in 2008. Four years later it launched a skincare and a sports range.

ANZ and HSBC arranged the deal with $450m of bridge financing.

总部位于广州、在香港上市的婴幼儿营养品和护理产品公司合生元(Biostime)已支付13.86亿澳元，购入澳大利亚和新西兰私营健康补品生产商Swisse Wellness 83%股权。

合生元的毛利润已从2007年的1.38亿元人民币升至去年的近30亿元人民币。在2008年中国三聚氰胺丑闻爆发后，对合生元婴幼儿产品的需求飙升，这些产品源自欧洲，三聚氰胺丑闻导致中国父母认为本土婴幼儿产品不安全。

预计这笔收购交易将于本月完成，应有利于合生元将产品扩大到婴幼儿产品以外，并利用中国对健康产品日益旺盛的需求。

最近几年，Swisse Wellness一直在将其业务地域范围扩大至欧洲、亚洲和拉美，该公司先后与宝洁(Procter & Gamble)和以色列的Teva Pharmaceutical Industries签订了合资协议。

Swisse Wellness的历史要回溯到上世纪60年代，当时该公司创始人凯文?灵(Kevin Ring)到瑞士旅行，回国后萌发了生产天然药品的灵感。到上世纪80年代末，该公司已开发逾200种产品，而后推出女士复合维生素Swisse Women's Ultivite，为该公司筑起了一座里程碑，随后男士维生素很快推出。

Swisse Wellness于2008年任命其首位首席执行官拉德克?萨利(Radek Sali)。4年后，推出了护肤和运动系列。

澳新银行(ANZ)和汇丰银行(HSBC)负责安排这笔交易，提供4.50亿美元过桥融资。

译者/梁艳裳