MidOcean Sells Majority Stake in VitaQuest 28553

MidOcean Sells Majority Stake in VitaQuest

NEW YORKMidOcean Partners, a New York- and London-based privateequity firm, has agreed to sell its nearly one year-old 58-percent stake in WestCaldwell, N.J.-based contract manufacturer VitaQuest International LLC to CKLife Sciences International, a Hong Kong-based biotechnology firm focused onenvironmental and health solutions, in a transaction valued at $345 million.

MidOcean (www.midoceanpartners.com), which invests in high quality middlemarket companies in consumer packaged goods and contract manufacturing,purchased its majority stake in VitaQuest (www.vitaquest.com) in March 2005 foran undisclosed sum, citing potential growth trend in outsourced manufacturingand praising the highly customized products and customer service offered by VitaQuest.Together with Keith Frankel, chairman and chief executive officer(CEO) of VitaQuest, MidOcean helped recapitalize the leading contractmanufacturer, growing it to an international status.

During our partnership with VitaQuests management team led by KeithFrankel, VitaQuest was positioned to become a dominant global player in thisspace, said Rob Sharp, managing director of MidOcean and director ofVitaQuest.We are proud of what VitaQuest has accomplished and believe thatVitaQuest and its customers will benefit from its new and exciting partnershipwith CK Life Sciences and its affiliated companies.

Frankel added: MidOcean was a great partner for VitaQuest as we continuedto grow and diversify our business model. Our relationship with MidOcean was agreat experience for me personally, as well as for the company. We look forwardto our partnership with the team at CK Life Sciences and believe that we willbenefit greatly from their vast resources and international presence.

According to CK Life Sciences (www.ck-lifesciences.com), which is owned bythe multi-industry Cheung Kong Group, the VitaQuest acquisition is its first inthe United States and will serve as a launch pad for further expansion inAmerica. As the leader in the custom nutraceutical market, we believeVitaQuest is well positioned to continue its strong growth trajectory as thesupplier of choice to third parties as well as to other companies within CK LifeSciences and the broader Cheung Kong Group, said H.L. Kam, president and CEOof CK Life Sciences.