NewsBite

Blackmores

August 2024

Entrepreneur Craig Silbery sold the Life-Space group for $690 million to Chinese giant By-Health in 2018 and then had to stay out of the industry for five years under a no-compete clause. He build three businesses in the dog health industry in the meantime, and has now returned to probiotics.

Entrepreneur returns with buyout after five-year non-compete clause

Craig Silbery funded his first business on a credit card and 12 years later sold it for $690 million to a Chinese giant. He aims to repeat the growth with a probiotics business acquired after a forced five years out of the industry.

  • Simon Evans

June 2024

Lynn Yeh is the chief executive of Homart Pharmaceuticals, which she founded with her brother, Jeffrey Yeh.

Vitamins group Homart brings in Ords, CLSA as it preps for ASX float

As it heads toward the bourse it is bulking up, acquiring New Zealand group Thompson’s Herbals and Thursday Plantation, a natural essential oils business.

  • Simon Evans

April 2024

Commonwealth Bank deputy chief David Cohen at the House Economics Committee in 2021.

Matt Comyn’s right-hand man pops up at Adara

Ex-Commonwealth Bank executive David Cohen is set to join the prestigious advisory group, bringing its membership to 16.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Moving to net zero requires everyone to understand the challenge, says Sally Townsend from Blackmores.

New uni course gets executives match fit for net zero

The micro-credential course starting in May will fast track understanding of how to navigate carbon accounting, reporting and reduction strategies.

  • Julie Hare

February 2024

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The best advice this boss was given: don’t let somebody else manage your career

Having a clear strategy around how you manage yourself, both in business and outside, is important, says Blackmores CEO Alastair Symington

  • Cindy Yin and Sally Patten
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November 2023

Alastair Symington, CEO of vitamins group Blackmores, says change is coming fast as the croporate world puts an economic value on Nature.

CEOs say climate-based reporting will leave nothing behind

The evolution of such disclosure took 15 years but it will broaden out in the next five years say the bosses of Blackmores, Woolworths and Wesfarmers.

  • Simon Evans
Alibaba’s Single’s Day shopping event was low-key this year compared to years past.

Aussie brands still rule China’s downsized Single’s Day

Australian products from vitamins to infant formula are still hot sellers at the world’s biggest shopping event, which offered big discounts this year.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

September 2023

Vitamins maker Blackmores de-listed from the ASX on August 11 after a $1.9 billion buyout by Japan’s Kirin. Kirin aims to expand the Blackmores brand into “food with functions” type immunity products.

Blackmores to expand from vitamins into health foods by 2025

The Japanese group Kirin acquired the ASX-listed company for $1.9 billion earlier this year, and told shareholders it has plans to launch the new range by 2025.

  • Simon Evans

August 2023

Marcus Blackmore will sit on the $334 million he is about to receive from Kirin in the Blackmores takeover, for at least six months.

Blackmore happy to be the Col Sanders of vitamins after $334m payday

The company’s largest shareholder says he’ll wait for six months before deploying the $334 million coming to him from the Kirin buyout.

  • Simon Evans

June 2023

Marcus Blackmore, with 18 per cent of the company, intends voting in favour of the Kirin buyout of Blackmores.

Blackmores $1.9b buyout price is ‘fair and reasonable’: expert

Independent expert Kroll has valued Blackmores at between $89 to $102 per share, and says Kirin’s takeover bid of $95 is near the middle of the range.

  • Simon Evans

May 2023

Lion Group CEO Sam Fischer at the Soho Bar in Southbank, Melbourne.

Why Lion CEO says beer is still recession-proof

The boss of the beer business with brands including Tooheys, Furphy and XXXX Gold says some spirits drinkers will head back to beer.

  • Simon Evans

April 2023

Marcus Blackmore says he’s been in the business for 57 years and the Kirin buyout offers the best possible long-term prospects for the brand.

Chinese approval a ‘wild card’ in Blackmores deal, analysts say

But equities analysts do not expect a rival offer to Kirin’s $95 per share bid to emerge, nor for local regulators to intervene in the buyout.

  • Simon Evans
Snowcap Research founders Chris Kennersley and Henry Kennersley at the Alpha Live event.

Australia a ‘ripe hunting ground’ for activist investors

The co-founders of UK firm Snowcap Research say the dislocations of the energy transition mean a step-up in activism is on the way.

  • Simon Evans
Marcus Blackmore is supporting Kirin’s $95 a share bid.

‘Relieved’ Marcus Blackmore to walk away with $334m

The major shareholder in Australia’s largest vitamins company is selling his 18 per cent stake into a $1.9 billion bid by Japanese giant Kirin.

  • Updated
  • Simon Evans
Largest shareholder Marcus Blackmore is “relieved” at the Kirin bid.

Blackmores drama ends with Japanese slam dunk

Every year or two, a big Japanese conglomerate snaps up a well-known Australian company, and the deals are invariably clean, swift and at hefty premiums.

  • Anthony Macdonald
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Marcus Blackmore has been critical of the board of Blackmores, where he is the largest shareholder.

Japan’s Kirin lobs $95-a-share bid for Blackmores

Japanese beer maker Kirin is understood to have lobbed an acquisition bid for Blackmores, in a proposal expected to be announced as soon as Thursday morning.

  • Updated
  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Social media comedians The Inspired Unemployed are best known as the figureheads for low-carb Better Beer, but have also been used by Swisse to tap into the Millennials market.

Swisse creeps up on Blackmores as comedians lure Millennials

Comedians The Inspired Unemployed have given extra grunt to Swisse, which aims to topple Blackmores as vitamins market leader.

  • Simon Evans
Marcus Blackmore has been critical of the board of Blackmores, where he is the largest shareholder.

Blackmores suitor revealed as Japanese giant; will another follow?

The discussions did not proceed partly because there were fears about relations with China and concerns about the high price needed to be paid for the company.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

February 2023

Marcus Blackmore was chairman of the company for 44 years from 1973 to 2017.

Why Marcus Blackmore is voting no on the Voice

The vitamin mogul says he’s been convinced by Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and thinks Anthony Albanese needs a better salesman.

  • Tom McIlroy
Alastair Symington, chief executive of Blackmores.

Blackmores boss says the ‘smart shopper’ is on the rise

The vitamins group’s shares slumped on flat profits as consumers hunted down the cheapest price amid tough cost pressures.

  • Simon Evans

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/bkl-9w