To: IAHF LIST
Subject: Roche Selling Out: Attacks Supplements/Selling Vitamin Division
From: "IAHF-John Hammell" jham@iahf.com
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 13:52:34
IAHF List:
See two articles below:
In the first, supplements are unfairly attacked again- and the attack was funded by Merck and by Hoffman La Roche
In the second, Hoffman La Roche has announced that they are selling their vitamin division....... which is the world's largest distributor of antioxidant raw materials....
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/07/05/vitamindiseases_020705
This is a horribly biased article, totally politically motivated to push through the EU vitamin Directive, EU Traditional Medicines Directive,and new definition of a medicine (that takes in anything
with any kind of therapeutic effect).
So.... they're slashing and burning, attacking the supplement industry, then selling out their vitamin division completely...... typical..... so typical.......
The supplement industry is under full fledged, global attack and you WILL lose your access if you don't help fight back. Nothing is sacred to the Pharma Cartel.
WHAT YOU MUST DO TO FIGHT BACK: Donate money to the UK based Health Freedom Movement http://www.healthfreedommovement.com/
and to IAHF http://www.iahf.com to help us make a video documentary in a last ditch effort to awaken a sleeping American vitamin industry. Please forward this to more people.
John Hammell,President
International Advocates for Health Freedom
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/news.asp?id=4887
04/07/02 - Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has said that several potential bidders have come forward for its vitamins and fine chemicals business which the company is looking to sell later this year.
Roche announced earlier this year that it was looking to sell the division after it failed to meet performance expectations, but the Swiss group is yet to decide whether an auction or a spin-off is the best option. The unit is valued at around SFr5 billion.
A report in the Financial Times said that potential bidders had moved quickly to assemble offers as falling share prices and financial market volatility mean that a stock market spin-off is the least likely option. Roche has received bids from both pharmaceutical companies and financial groups.
The vitamins and fine chemicals division had sales of SFr3.45 billion last year, down from SFr3.6 billion in 2000, while operating profits fell 30 per cent to SFr346 million. Roche has decided to focus its energies on its two higher margin divisions, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.
Roche was fined €525m last year for its part in a long-running price-fixing cartel in the vitamins market it operated with 13 other companies. The group had previously been fined $500 million in the US.
The group has made a SFr760 million provision to cover future liabilities from lawsuits in the US arising from the scandal.
The division is thought most likely to suit a financial bidder rather than a trade buyer, said observers, citing competition issues because of Roche's dominant market share.
Moreover, the varied range of businesses in the division - which stretch from sunscreen to manufacturing citric acid - might appeal to a bidder more interested in breaking up the businesses. Roche has committed to sell the division as a single unit.
Analysts said the final price Roche managed to raise from any sale would depend on market conditions and on the level of debt included with the division.
Source: Financial Times