Vitamin maker Jamieson Wellness said it received an unsolicited takeover offer on Wednesday.Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Globe and Mail
Vitamin maker Jamieson Wellness Inc. JWEL-T is in talks with potential buyers over a sale that analysts expect could be worth more than $2-billion.
Toronto-based Jamieson said late Wednesday the company has received an unsolicited takeover offer from an unnamed company and is also in discussions with other interested parties about a potential transaction. Bank of Montreal and Canaccord Genuity have been hired to provide financial advice on the process.
“There can be no assurance that this process will result in any transaction,” the company said.
Jamieson made the announcement after Bloomberg News reported that the company was in talks.
Jamieson’s Toronto Stock Exchange-listed shares approached record-high territory early Thursday. They traded up to $43 a share for the first time since late 2020, before sinking back to $41.39 by early afternoon, which was an almost 14-per-cent increase over Wednesday’s close. That price gives the company a total valuation of more than $1.7-billion.
“A potential sale of the company has been a key investor debate,” Royal Bank of Canada analyst Ryland Conrad, who has a buy rating on Jamieson and a price target of $46 a share, said in a note to clients on Wednesday. “Given the company’s recent execution and valuation levels, we are not overly surprised by the news.”
Potential acquirers likely include both private equity investors and Jamieson’s rivals in the vitamin, mineral and supplement, or VMS, industry, Mr. Conrad said. Some of the largest players in the global VMS sector include Nestle SA NSRGY, Centrum-maker Haleon PLC HLN-N and Herbalife Ltd. HLF-N in the United States.
Jamieson has been in a period of rapid growth since the turn of the decade, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in demand. Total revenue more than doubled from roughly $400-million in 2020 to more than $820-million in 2025.
Much of that growth has come through international expansion. Canada still represents the company’s single largest market, accounting for $372-million in revenue last year, but Jamieson has made recent inroads into both the U.S. and China.
After acquiring California-based collagen supplement maker Youtheory for US$210-million in 2022, Jamieson’s U.S. revenue grew from $68-million that year to $147-million in 2025. In China, Jamieson acquired its distribution partner’s assets in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, giving the company direct control over its operations there.
Jamieson’s Chinese revenue was less than $30-million in 2022. By 2025, however, the company’s sales in China were topping $140-million, and Jamieson is projecting Chinese revenue to reach at least $178-million in 2026. That would make China the Canadian company’s second-largest market, with U.S. sales this year expected to range from $162-million to $170-million.
Profit has also been climbing, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, rising from roughly $100-million in 2021 to nearly $160-million in 2025. Jamieson projects 2026 EBITDA will surpass $174-million.
Jamieson is also actively on the hunt for its own acquisitions. During a May 7 conference call with analysts, chief financial officer Chris Snowden said the company was interested in buying more American assets. Chief executive officer Mike Pilato added: “We’re in a great position in that we’re not desperate to do an acquisition.”
“We would like to do an acquisition to accelerate our growth, but we have a lot of organic growth in front of us,” Mr. Pilato said.
Despite all its recent growth, RBC’s Mr. Conrad said the company’s valuation “has been largely stagnant” at between 10 and 11 times EBITDA. That is below Jamieson’s long-term average multiple of 13.5, and below the multiple applied to comparable deals, which has been in the mid-teens, he said.
According to Mr. Conrad’s calculations, each additional multiple would equate to roughly $4.50 per Jamieson share. For example, that means an offer to buy the company for 13.5 times its 2025 EBITDA would be worth about $2.2-billion.
National Bank Financial analyst Nathan Po has a buy rating on the stock and a price target of $44 a share. He said in an e-mail that precedent transactions over the past five years could imply a takeout multiple of 16.5 times EBITDA.
Based on that theoretical valuation, and using his projection for Jamieson’s 2026 adjusted EBITDA, Mr. Po arrived at a possible takeout price of $58.50 a share.
That would suggest an offer price of at least $2.5-billion.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the last name of National Bank Financial analyst Nathan Po. This version has been corrected.