Deloitte confident of finding buyer for Healthspan vitamin business

DELOITTE EXPECTS to find a buyer for Healthspan, a vitamins and minerals business, within the next few months.

The business, owned by Derek Coates, an entrepreneur, is poised to be sold for about £150m, The Independent reported.

Coates, who also owns the Guernsey-based airline Blue Islands, appointed Deloitte’s corporate finance team last year to run a sale of his Healthspan home shopping business, which has grown rapidly since he founded it in 1996, The Independent added.

Between 10 and 12 private equity and trade suitors submitted first-round bids before Christmas, but Deloitte has now whittled this number down to a handful. Second-round bids will be accepted over the coming weeks and Coates hopes to complete a deal within two months, The Independent said.

Coates’s business empire also includes two upmarket hotels on the islands of Guernsey and Alderney. He has put only the Healthspan vitamins and supplements business up for sale. Deloitte declined to comment yesterday and Healthspan did not return calls, The Independent said.