Health Made Easy Group (HMEG) has completed the purchase of the UK’s oldest health foods buying group, The Health Store (THS).
HMEG, which owns THS rival Tree of Life, made an offer to shareholders (health store owner member of the THS buying group) in June, explaining that the move would allow the group and board of directors to invest further into the business. The group said that the acquisition would allow THS to enhance service levels and provide more choice to customers through access to thousands of additional complementary product lines across ambient, chilled and frozen ranges.
“We’re pleased that our shareholders have backed the acquisition of The Health Store,” comments Mike Cole, chairman of HMEG. “We will continue to operate both businesses as separate entities, which will provide benefits of scale across all channels and enable us to improve our offer to our customers, suppliers and consumers alike.”
THS managing director Tim Ryan, adds: “Our business has been at the forefront of sourcing natural and organic products for independent retailers for more than 80 years. Within this time, the landscape of the sector in which we operate has changed considerably. We’re confident that the deal made with Health Made Easy will allow us to drive forward changes and benefits that will ensure we can keep delivering for the needs of our customers.”
HMEG says that the acquisition will consolidate the buying power of the group, which incorporates a number of subsidiaries including wholesaler Tree of Life, VMS brand Higher Nature and the recently added Peppersmith gum and mint brand.
Under the terms of the acquisition, all three businesses will continue to operate autonomously at their separate sites.