Biofreeze Owner Mulls $1 Billion Sale of Pain Relief Gel
Biofreeze Owner Mulls $1 Billion Sale of Pain Relief Gel
(Bloomberg) -- Performance Health, a provider of athletic training and physical therapy products, is exploring a sale of popular pain-relief gel Biofreeze, which could fetch more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company, owned by U.S. buyout firm Madison Dearborn Partners, is weighing the divestiture amid interest from potential buyers seeking to expand in consumer health care, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public.
Initial bids are due by May and a buyer could be selected within three months, the people said. Biofreeze could draw interest from companies including Johnson & Johnson, they added.
No final decision has been made and Performance Health could opt against a sale, the people said.
Representatives for Madison Dearborn and J&J declined to comment. Representatives for Performance Health didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Biofreeze uses menthol to temporarily ease joint and muscle pains. Popular with clinicians for decades, Performance Health only began distributing it to retail consumers in 2016. Today, the company sells Biofreeze gels, sprays and patches on its own website and through stores including Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Target Corp.
Performance Health has marketed Biofreeze heavily to athletes, lining up endorsements from tennis player Sloane Stephens and snowboarding star Shaun White. Last year, the National Basketball Association’s Portland Trail Blazers said players would wear Biofreeze patches on their jerseys.
Madison Dearborn, based in Chicago, has invested in more than 140 companies and raised seven funds totaling $23 billion since becoming an independent firm in 1992, according to its website.
--With assistance from Cynthia Koons.
To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Kiel Porter in Chicago at kporter17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fion Li at fli59@bloomberg.net, ;Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks
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