Mumbai/Bengaluru: Multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm USV Non-public Ltd has acquired round 79% stake in nutraceutical agency Wellbeing Vitamin in an all-cash deal, valuing the corporate at ₹1,583 crore, the businesses mentioned on Thursday.
The deal will assist Wellbeing deepen its presence in doctor- and pharmacy-led channels, co-founder Avnish Chhabria advised Mint. “We required a pharma associate with deeper entry to physician and pharmacy networks to strengthen retention and repeat consumption, and to step by step make the enterprise extra prescription-led,” Chhabria mentioned.
The transaction marks the exit of early backers Fireplace Ventures and Hindustan Unilever, who collectively maintain a 40% stake within the firm. USV has bought about 35% stake from Chhabria and about 44% from current shareholders.
Chhabria, who held 50% previous to the transaction, will retain a 15% stake till March 2028, whereas the present administration, with co-founder Saurabh Kapoor, will proceed to function the enterprise below the oversight of the board, the businesses mentioned within the assertion on Thursday.
Kotak Mahindra Capital acted because the monetary adviser for the deal.
The deal underscores a broader shift in India’s nutraceutical market, the place scale is more and more tied to medical credibility and pharmacy distribution relatively than digital attain alone.
In August, Mint first reported that USV, amongst others, have expressed curiosity in Wellbeing Vitamin, valuing the corporate between ₹1,500 crore and ₹1,600 crore.
Scaling the model
Underneath the mentorship of FMCG large Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and early-stage shopper investor Fireplace Ventures, Wellbeing has managed to scale its retail strengths, notably on fast commerce platforms, like Blinkit and Zepto, rising 5x within the final six months alone, Chhabria mentioned.
“Our distribution is structurally completely different from most shopper manufacturers. Pharmacies make up over 55% of our income, and about 15% comes by means of physician prescriptions relatively than normal commerce,” Chhabria famous.
This deal brings the nutraceutical model below the bulk possession of USV because it seems to scale past its premium and D2C-led development mannequin.
Wellbeing Vitamin now plans to increase its presence within the fast-growing GLP-1 phase, with a specific deal with oral codecs because the remedy evolves past injectables. The corporate additionally sees a chance to construct complementary, science-led merchandise round metabolic well being, Chhabria mentioned. “Administration (of injectibles) is a problem for many shoppers. If we are able to make it simpler to eat orally, there’s a really huge marketplace for us,” Chhabria famous.
With USV’s regulatory experience, medical capabilities and physician community, Wellbeing expects to navigate this area with higher credibility and scale.
The transaction will even assist USV double down its deal with the preventive and lifestyle-focused wellness phase. Based about six a long time in the past, USV instructions a powerful management in diabetes and cardiac care and can also be seeking to advance its subsequent section of development with plans to enter the modern GLP-1 remedy phase. It homes manufacturers equivalent to Glycomet GP, Ecosprin and Roseday.
“This acquisition dovetails strongly with our technique to construct a future-facing healthcare portfolio that responds to the altering aspirations of Indian shoppers,” Prashant Tewari, managing director of USV. “Their success throughout channels, notably by means of their very own platform, and their premium, clinically backed portfolio positions us nicely to speed up development.”
India’s nutraceuticals market was valued at $8 billion in 2024 and is rising at 11% CAGR, per estimates by world administration consulting agency Kearney.
THEMin its Q3 earnings name on Thursday, mentioned well being and wellness continues to be a giant alternative in India, though under-indexed. The FMCG large, which additionally backs nutraceuticals participant Oziva, mentioned it would purchase the remaining 49% stake within the model for ₹824 crore, even because it sells its total stake in Wellbeing Vitamin.
“Total, well being & wellbeing is a really huge alternative in India, very under-indexed and has large headroom for development.,” Priya Nair, CEO & MD of HUL mentioned in a post-earnings press briefing. “We now have acquired 100% of OZiva. We are going to double down and construct the model.”