MeriCal Acquires Global Health Industries To Create Leader In Probiotics

Columbia West Capital is pleased to announce the acquisition of Global Health Industries (“GHI”), based in Ogden, Utah, by MeriCal, LLC ("MeriCal"), a developer, manufacturer, and packager of probiotic and other nutritional supplements owned by Linden Capital Partners.   

GHI is a respected player in the VMS industry best known for its highly specialized approach to probiotic manufacturing and packaging including bacteria, spores, and yeast products.  GHI also boasts strong multi-level marketing and branded manufacturing and sales expertise. MeriCal CEO Brian Smith says the acquisition is MeriCal's next step in its strategy to become the leading developer and manufacturer in the probiotic segment of the Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements industry.

"We are excited at the prospect of combining our respective resources. Among other benefits, Global Health Industries will gain access to our industry leading R&D capabilities, which we are confident will lead to expanded demand for our innovative products," said Smith. "GHI's unique spore manufacturing and packaging operation will add to MeriCal's existing capabilities. Together, we will continue to strive to become the clear leader in probiotic and supplement contract manufacturing – one of the goals we set out to achieve after last year's acquisition of MeriCal by Linden."

Added GHI's CEO Kim Wheelwright, "Though both companies have demonstrated success with their respective customer bases, the combination of MeriCal's #1 market position in the private label retail space combined with our broad, branded customer base make the combined company extremely powerful." The collective organization will employ nearly 550 individuals at six sites across the U.S.

Columbia West Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to GHI during this sale process, working to ensure the GHI founders could achieve their goal of retirement while enabling the day-to-day managers of GHI to continue growing the company with ownership. “Selecting Columbia West Capital was one of the best decisions I have ever made,” said Wheelwright. “The team they led, which included attorneys at Durham Jones & Pinegar and accountants at CBIZ, was a dream team that achieved a result I would not have imagined.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.