{"id":257432,"date":"2026-01-22T05:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/257432\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T05:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:49:11","slug":"us-group-metagenics-has-healthy-appetite-for-probiotics-maker-symprove-money-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/257432\/","title":{"rendered":"US group Metagenics has healthy appetite for probiotics maker Symprove | Money News"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Britain\u2019s leading home-grown manufacturers of probiotic supplements is to be taken over by an American peer amid booming demand for gut-health and wellbeing products.<\/p>\n

Sky News has learnt that Symprove, which was launched by Barry Smith from his Surrey farm in 2010, is being bought by Metagenics, a New Jersey-based provider of nutritional supplements.<\/p>\n

The deal is expected to be announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Money latest: Nationwide reveals expansion of mortgages worth six times salary<\/a><\/p>\n

City sources said the transaction would crystallise a windfall for bd-capital, Symprove’s private equity backer, and the company’s other shareholders.<\/p>\n

The price being paid by Metagenics was unclear.<\/p>\n

Mr Smith conceived of his water-based formula as a treatment for farm animals before deducing that it would also be beneficial to humans’ gut health.<\/p>\n

Since then, it has become one of Britain’s leading probiotic brands and claims to be the one most recommended by healthcare practitioners.<\/p>\n

Symprove’s products can offer effective treatment for sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) as well as the gastric symptoms of other diseases including Parkinson’s.<\/p>\n

The company has benefited from growing consumer interest in gut health and its impact on their general physical and mental wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Under bd-capital’s ownership since 2020, it has grown to become Europe’s largest subscription business of its kind, with chief executive Will Bowler overseeing rapid annual sales increases.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources said Symprove had had takeover interest from a wide range of strategic and financial investors, but that its owners had prioritised finding a new owner which could grow its international reach while maintaining its scientific focus.<\/p>\n

Metagenics is backed by Gryphon Investors, a US-based private investment firm which was advised by Greenhill and Spayne Lindsay on the acquisition.<\/p>\n

Jefferies advised Symprove’s owners on the sale.<\/p>\n

The deal represents the first exit from an investment for bd-capital, which was co-founded by Richard Baker, the former Boots chief executive, and Andy Dawson, a senior figure in the UK private equity industry from his time at Advent International.<\/p>\n

Neither bd-capital nor Symprove could be reached for comment on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Britain\u2019s leading home-grown manufacturers of probiotic supplements is to be taken over by an American peer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[103,61,60,446],"class_list":{"0":"post-257432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}