Fund run by Russian-Israeli to buy Holland & Barrett for £1.8 billion
Health food chain acquired by billionaire Mikhail Fridman's L1 Retail, an arm of the tycoon's holding company LetterOne
Holland & Barrett has been acquired for £1.8 billion by a retail investment fund controlled by Russian-Israeli .
L1 Retail, an arm of the tycoon’s holding company LetterOne, said that it has snapped up the retailer from its parent firm Nature’s Bounty, which is owned by private equity giant Carlyle.
The fund’s managing partner Stephan DuCharme said: “Holland & Barrett is a clear market leader in the UK health and wellness retail market, with attractive growth positions in other European and international markets, and growing online presence, with a leading customer loyalty programme and 10 million active cardholders.”
He added that the group will look to take a bigger slice of the growing £10 billion health and wellness market, adding that L1 Retail will continue to work with Holland & Barrett chief executive Peter Aldis.
Headquartered in Nuneaton, Holland & Barrett’s annual revenues in 2016 exceeded £610 million.
Founded in 1870, it is now Europe’s largest health food chain, has outlets in more than 1,150 locations and employs a workforce of more than 4,200.
Mr Aldis said: “We have upgraded much of our core store portfolio to concept stores to deliver additional in-store theatre and increased customer engagement.
“New products launched through our ethical sourcing programme have also been a key growth driver.”
Led by Mr DuCharme, L1’s advisory board is made up of Karl-Heinz Holland and John Walden, the former bosses of Lidl and Home Retail Group respectively.
They are joined by Clive Humby, co-founder of customer data company Dunnhumby.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
