Vitamin Shoppe Acquiring Super Supplements

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. The Vitamin Shoppe on Monday announced an agreement to acquire Super Supplements, Inc. for $50 million, merging companies with headquarters on opposite sides of the country.

Vitamin Shoppe said the deal expands its presence in the Pacific Northwest where Super Supplements a Seattle-based specialty retailer of vitamins, minerals and supplements operates 31 stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Vitamin Shoppe, a North Bergen, N.J.-based specialty retailer and direct marketer of nutritional products, currently operates 17 stores in the Pacific Northwest.

The acquisition is expected to close on Dec. 31, contribute about $75 million to 2013 revenues and be neutral to slightly positive to earnings per share in the upcoming year as integration costs offset contribution of operating income, noted Vitamin Shoppe, which possessed roughly $76 million of cash and equivalents as of Sept. 29.

Tony Truesdale, CEO of Vitamin Shoppe, said the Super Supplements management team will remain in place under the deal. Jim Sweeney, CEO of Super Supplements, will assume of the role of vice president, general manager of the Pacific Northwest region following the closing, Truesdale said during a conference call Tuesday with investors. John Wurts, a Washington resident and the founder of Super Supplements, is the sole shareholder of the company, according to a regulatory filing.

As of Oct. 17, 2012, Vitamin Shoppe operated 567 stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The virtually debt-free company posted a profit of $51.1 million on net sales of $239 million in the nine-month period that ended Sept. 24.

"In the near term, we see an opportunity to improve the profitability of the business by leveraging the Vitamin Shoppe infrastructure and expertise and supply chain," Truesdale told investors on the conference call.

"Not only is Super Supplements a great strategic fit, but perhaps even more important, we are a good fit culturally," he added later, citing the companies' store locations, demographics, an emphasis on a knowledgeable employee base and other similarities. 

In other news this week, Vitamin Shoppe has revealed that former Toys"R"Us executive Deborah Derby was appointed to the board effective Dec. 31. Derby, 49, will become a member of the board's Compensation Committee and receive an annual retainer of $55,000 plus an annual equity award of restricted stock units equal to a value of $60,000 on the grant date, according to a regulatory filing.