Avista Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on health care, announced Monday it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Bridgewater- based Arcadia Consumer Healthcare to the Bansk Group.
Arcadia is a recognized leader in the consumer health care market for over-the-counter (“OTC”) medicines and premium vitamins and nutritional supplements. The Bansk Group is a private investment firm focused on building distinctive consumer brands.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In 2018, Avista acquired Arcadia’s predecessor, Kramer Laboratories, Inc., a company focused on delivering innovative health care products to help consumers self-treat their everyday problems. Kramer’s portfolio brands and products included highly efficacious OTC foot care and specialty cough treatments.
Shortly thereafter, Avista helped lead a comprehensive re-branding and re-launch to create Arcadia – now a leading platform of consumer healthcare products, including premium vitamin and nutritional supplements, and OTC medicines in the therapeutic hair care, foot care, digestive health and specialty cough categories.
Rob Girardi, partner at Avista, said the group was pleased with its investment.
“Avista invested in Arcadia because we saw the potential for the brands to capitalize on the growing trends in self-care,” he said. “We are thrilled with the partnership we’ve enjoyed with Arcadia in developing a highly effective strategic M&A program, investing in innovation, and expanding into new markets beyond traditional OTC.
“We’re confident that Arcadia will continue to succeed under Bansk’s ownership.”
Arcadia CEO Mike DeBiasi, who is staying on in the deal, said his team benefited from Avista’s ownership.
“Our team has always been motivated to find new opportunities to deliver innovative solutions to everyday health care needs, and Avista has been a fantastic partner helping us deliver on this mission,” he said. “Their deep consumer healthcare expertise, proactive approach to M&A, and collaborative strategy for optimizing portfolio company performance has been integral to our rapid growth.
“Just as importantly, they have helped us build a strong and sustainable platform for even greater expansion and success moving forward. I want to thank Avista for their tremendous support and the entire Arcadia team for their hard work, passion for building brands, and commitment to drive growth. Arcadia is truly excited about continuing to accelerate this growth with Bansk in the next phase for our company.”
