GNC Trading For $1.65B

PITTSBURGH-A group of investors is buying the 4,800-store nutrition chain General Nutrition Centers for $1.65 billion from private-equity firm Apollo Management. The buyers of the retailer are private-equity outfit Ares Management and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

New York City-based Apollo acquired GNC from Dutch nutrition company Royal Numico in December 2003 for $750 million. GNC then filed a registration statement with the SEC in May 2004 to go public, but the retailer did not end up trading on public markets.

Of locally-based GNC’s 4,800 US locations, 1,000 are franchised and 1,200 are within Rite Aid drug stores. It also has franchise operations in 46 countries. In 2006, the company reported an 11.1% year-over-year, same-store sales increase for company-owned stores, and a 5.7% jump in franchise-operated units.