Nature’s Sunshine to acquire full ownership of China joint ventures after Fosun Pharma stake sale

Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. (NASDAQ:NATR) announced Monday it has entered into agreements to purchase the remaining interests in its two China-based joint ventures from Fosun Industrial Co., Ltd., following the sale of Fosun Pharmaceutical (TADAWUL:2070) (Group) Co., Ltd.’s stake in the company.

According to a statement based on a recent SEC filing, Fosun Pharma, through an affiliate, sold 2,854,607 shares of Nature’s Sunshine common stock on Friday. This transaction reduced Fosun Pharma’s ownership below 5% of the outstanding shares, triggering provisions in the original joint venture agreements.

On June 30, Nature’s Sunshine entered into share purchase agreements with Fosun Industrial to acquire Fosun’s 20% interests in both Nature’s Sunshine Hong Kong Limited and Shanghai Nature’s Sunshine Health Products Co., Ltd. The company will pay $3.9 million in cash for the Hong Kong joint venture and $3.1 million in cash for the Shanghai joint venture.

The joint ventures, established in 2014, have marketed and distributed Nature’s Sunshine products in China, with Nature’s Sunshine previously holding an 80% stake in each and Fosun Industrial holding the remaining 20%.

Completion of these transactions is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory submissions to the People’s Republic of China State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Commerce.

Nature’s Sunshine stated that the description of the purchase agreements is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the agreements, which were filed as exhibits to the SEC report.

All information in this article is based on a press release statement and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nature’s Sunshine maintains impressive gross profit margins of 71.7% and is expected to remain profitable this year, according to InvestingPro analysis, which offers additional insights through its comprehensive Pro Research Report, available for over 1,400 US stocks.

In other recent news, Nature’s Sunshine Products announced a secondary public offering of up to 2,854,607 shares, priced at $12.00 per share. These shares are being sold by Fosun Pharma USA, Inc., with Nature’s Sunshine not receiving any proceeds from the transaction. The company has the option to purchase up to $15 million of the shares through its existing share repurchase program. DA Davidson is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering. Additionally, DA Davidson has raised its price target for Nature’s Sunshine to $20.00, maintaining a Buy rating. The firm highlighted the company’s digital-first approach and volume leverage as potential growth drivers. In a separate note, DA Davidson reaffirmed its Buy rating with a $19.00 price target, expressing confidence in the company’s management and growth opportunities. The analysts also noted Nature’s Sunshine’s clean balance sheet and recent share repurchase program as positive factors.

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