Taiwan dating website hunts local targets; taps Edison Partners

afr.com:

There’s more Asian capital hunting local vitamin and supplements brands.

Sunfun Taiwan has hired boutique advisory firm Edison Partners to find it a local acquisition target. 

Street Talk understands Taiwan-based health and nutrition developer-distributor Daiken Biomedical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taipei-listed dating website operator Sunfun, has hired Edison Partners to scout Australian and New Zealand acquisition targets.

Founded in 2019, Daiken is a regional player in the vitamins and nutritional supplements sector producing products such as fish oil and magnesium and generated about $US30 million ($46 million) in revenue last year.

Sources said the company, flush with cash, was eager to acquire majority ownership of a profitable vitamin, probiotic or health supplement target up to $100 million in enterprise value that was eager to grow its business in south-east Asia. Daiken is also understood to be considering the broader functional food and beverages segment – consumable goods with nutritional additives such as fibres, omega-3 and vitamins.

Australia’s mid-size vitamin and supplements market is made up of names you’d see on the shelves of Chemist Warehouse – Integria Healthcare’s Eureka, Caruso’s Natural Health and Vital. Then there are the brands owned by major players – Blackmores’ Bioceuticals and Sanofi-Aventis-owned Ostelin. Vitamin and supplement manufacturers delivered $1.6 billion in revenue across 79 distinct businesses, according to IBISWorld. Local products have seen increased demand from Asian consumers, viewed as clean and safe, though this spike softened during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

On the functional food and beverage front there are names like Shine Drink – a no-sugar energy drink containing