Lamberts and Nature’s Best bought by pharmaceutical company

Merck Acquires Direct Marketer of Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements

Source: http://www.chemie.de/news/e/27832/

21 August 2003

Merck KGaA announced that Merck CHC Holding, its wholly owned Consumer Health Care business, has acquired Peter Black Direct Marketing Ltd., a U.K.-based direct marketer of vitamins, minerals and supplements, in order to expand and reinforce Merck’s market share in Great Britain.

Peter Black Direct Marketing, located in Tunbridge Wells in Southeastern England, has two businesses – Nature’s Best, which sells directly to consumers, and Lamberts, which sells to practitioners and nutritionists. The 20-year-old company employs a total of 55 people.

Merck CHC Holding is already the leader in the U.K. vitamins and minerals market with its well-known line of Seven Seas products, which are sold through retail outlets. Because of their different sales strategies, Seven Seas Ltd. and the new acquisition will remain separate operations. Peter Black Direct Marketing will be renamed Lamberts Healthcare Ltd.

“Peter Black Direct Marketing is a leader in the growing direct-to-consumer vitamins and supplements market in the U.K. and gives Merck KGaA the opportunity to expand its presence in the strategically important VMS market,” said Volker Keidtel, Head of Merck KGaA’s Consumer Health Care division.

The total U.K. vitamins, minerals and supplements market, including direct-to-customer sales, amounts to an estimated GBP 430 million (EUR 617 million) annually.