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EAS UP FOR GRABS New York Post By ERICA COPULSKY September 7, 2004 EAS Inc., one of the top makers of diet bars, protein shakes and energy supplements, is all pumped up for a sale, The Post has learned. EAS's parent, North Castle Partners, is actively shopping the Golden, Colorado maker of Myoplex and AdvantEdge brand nutrition bars and drinks for a price tag of as much as $400 million, sources familiar with the situation said. North Castle hired UBS to handle the sale. Another round of bids is due later this week, sources said. Possible bidders include food companies Nestlé SA, Kellogg Co., PepsiCo and Kraft Foods Inc., as well as candy makers Wm. Wrigley Jr., Hershey Foods Corp. and Mars Inc. A handful of deal-hungry buyout firms, including Blackstone Group, Ripplewood Holdings, Harvest Partners and AEA Investors, are also expected to show up at the table. North Castle is aiming to complete a deal before the end of the year. Officials at the company could not be reached for comment. Formally known as Experimental & Applied Sciences, EAS makes and sells nutritional food and supplements under the EAS HP, Myoplex, AdvantEdge and Pirahna brands. The company has seen its sales and EBITDA — Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization — more than triple in the last five years. The company is expected to generate $340 million in sales and roughly $38 million to $40 million in EBITDA this year. Nutritional products firm in Golden looks for buyer Nestlé, Kellogg, others eye EAS By Janet Forgrieve Rocky Mountain News September 8, 2004 A spokesman for the parent company of Golden-based EAS confirmed Tuesday that it's actively looking for a buyer for the nutritional products firm. A New York Post story that cited unnamed sources is "essentially correct," said John Higgins, spokesman for North Castle Partners, the private equity firm that bought EAS in 1999. The story said that several food companies have at least expressed an interest in EAS, including Nestlé SA, Kellogg Co., PepsiCo and Kraft Foods Inc. Candy makers Wm. Wrigley Jr., Hershey Foods Corp. and Mars Inc. also are potential bidders for EAS, which could fetch more than $400 million. EAS, which makes Myoplex and AdvantEdge brand nutrition bars, shakes and supplements, declined to comment on the specifics of possible deals. The company did issue a short written statement, saying it's focused on business as usual. "Since we were purchased by North Castle Partners in 1999, many companies have expressed interest in EAS. The ongoing interest from both strategic and financial investors affirms the attractiveness of the sports and nutritional supplement segment of the health and wellness category in general and reinforces the success we have had in developing strong brands and reaching new consumers," the statement said. "And while we always keep an eye on the sales process, our management team and 250 employees remain focused on fulfilling our day-to-day mission: building on the strength of our Myoplex and AdvantEdge brands. We have big plans for the rest of this year and 2005, and look forward to continued success." Citing confidentiality agreements, EAS corporate counsel Chip Bellamy said the company would not be able to comment further. Last year, privately held EAS booked about $300 million in revenue. In March, CEO Monty Sharma told the Rocky Mountain News that the company was on track for $1 billion in sales by 2008. Also in March, North Castle Partners acknowledged longstanding rumors that the company was for sale, but said it was content to wait for the right offer. "Until the right partner comes along, we're in no hurry to exit," said North Castle partner Jim Eason. ABBOTT LABS BULKING UP WITH EAS BID By ERICA COPULSKY Monday, October 11, 2004 NEW YORK POST Abbott Laboratories Inc. is near a deal to buy EAS Inc., one of the top makers of diet bars, protein shakes and energy supplements, in a cash deal worth between $300 million and $350 million, The Post has learned. The pharmaceutical giant is finalizing an agreement to purchase the Golden, Col. maker of Myoplex and AdvantEdge brand nutrition bars and drinks from investment firm North Castle Partners, sources familiar with the situation said. If talks proceed on track, a deal could be announced as early as today. A North Castle spokesman declined to comment. Representatives for Abbott Labs couldn't be reached at press time. EAS makes and sells nutritional food and supplements under the EAS HP, Myoplex, AdvantEdge and Pirahna brands. The company has seen its sales more than triple in the last five years. The company, which North Castle bought from "Body for Life" author Bill Phillips in 1999, is expected to generate $340 million in sales this year. North Castle, based in Greenwich, Conn., has been scouting for an EAS buyer for some time. In December 2002, it came close to a deal to sell the business to Coca-Cola Co., but those talks fell through. As The Post previously reported, North Castle instructed investment bank UBS earlier this year to begin quietly shopping EAS to Hershey Foods Corp., PepsiCo and other food companies eager to expand their product array to target health-conscious consumers. For Abbott Labs, the acquisition of EAS will provide a wide range of products — including balanced nutrition, energy, healthy snacks and low- carbohydrate foods — to complement the existing platform it has been steadily building in the healthy-living sector. In 2003, Abbott, whichowns nutritional drinks Ensure, Glucerna and ProSure, purchased diet bar maker ZonePerfect Nutrition Co. for $160 million. Abbott Labs to buy EAS Kristi Arellano The Denver Post October 12, 2004 Golden-based supplement maker selling for $320 million EAS will allow Abbott to expand into the healthy-adult market. No changes are expected in staff or operations. "The company has gone from Bill Phillips and bulging-muscle pictures on the brochures to healthy mothers drinking their shakes as meal replacements," said Grant Ferrier, editor of Nutrition Business Journal in San Diego. "They successfully transitioned from being an athlete brand, which is the reason for the Abbott deal." For Abbott, which plans to include EAS in its Ross Products division, the deal provided an opportunity to fill a gap in its supplement offerings, which include Similac for infants, Pedialyte for children and Ensure for adults. EAS products "will begin to fill a demographic void for us," said Gary McCullough, president of Ross. "We have products for infants and older adults. EAS will allow us to expand into the healthy living market." As part of its effort to reach that market, Abbott acquired ZonePerfect Nutrition Co. in 2003. Abbott had $19 billion in sales last year, and it sports a stock market net worth of $64 billion. EAS - which stands for Experimental and Applied Sciences - produces shakes, nutrition bars, protein drinks and other nutrition and weight-loss products. Its product lines include AdvantEdge, Myoplex and Body for Life. North Castle Partners had been floating EAS as a takeover target for several months. Nestlé SA, Kellogg Co., PepsiCo and Kraft Foods Inc. were among the companies floated as potential bidders. EAS employs 260 people in the U.S., 240 of them in Golden, and 30 internationally. Sports nutrition and weight-loss products, including liquid meal replacements such as Slim Fast, represent a $4.5 billion business, according to Nutrition Business Journal. EAS has annual sales of about $300 million. In its 2003 analysis of supplement and meal replacement companies, Nutrition Business Journal ranked EAS as the seventh-largest seller of those products. Abbott ranked sixth. The combined companies would place second on the list, Ferrier said. Shares of Abbott, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, gained 34 cents Monday to close at $41.17. EAS timeline 1987 - Experimental and Applied Sciences is founded in California. 1994 - Bodybuilder, Muscle Media magazine owner and supplement distributor Bill Phillips buys EAS, which has sales of $25 million. After moving it to Golden, he develops it into an internationally known performance-nutrition company. Its core product is Myoplex, a creatine-based substance that encourages muscle growth. Denver Broncos Terrell Davis and John Elway, and actors Demi Moore and Sylvester Stallone become high-profile EAS customers. June 1999 - Phillips writes "Body-for-LIFE: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength" (HarperCollins), which spends more than three years on best-seller lists and sells more than 3 million copies. 1999 - North Castle Partners buys EAS for $160 million, with Phillips retaining about a third of the company. It begins adding mass-market products such as Pirhana energy drinks and AdvantEdge nutrition bars to the line. While Phillips limited the distribution of EAS products to gyms and health-food stores, new CEO David Lumley sells the line to discount retail chains and convenience stores and uses supermodel Cindy Crawford and Denver Bronco Shannon Sharpe in company ads. Sales climb to $251 million by 2001. January 2003 - EAS stops selling products that contain ephedra, an herbal stimulant that some experts link to heart attacks and strokes, several months before the FDA bans the substance. July 2003 - EAS ousts Lumley. Management says they fear he has steered too far away from EAS' traditional customer base of athletes and bodybuilders. He is replaced by chief operating officer Monty Sharma. 2004 - North Castle Partners buys Bill Phillips' portion of the company. Monday - Abbott Laboratories buys EAS for $320 million. Company sales are predicted to be $340 million for 2004. 1 6 - 0 4 - 2 0 0 6 Cleaning up MLB one supplement at a time By T.J. QUINN & MICHAEL O'KEEFFE New York Daily News April 15, 2006 When Major League Baseball announced last month that it had hired NSF International to screen dietary supplements so teams could provide players with products free of banned substances, one supplement company already seemed to have a foot in the door. NSF, a Michigan not-for-profit organization, had cleared several products made by EAS Inc., for the certification program begun by the NFL in 2004. EAS, it seems, has come full circle: Once a controversial company headed by former bodybuilder and steroids guru Bill Phillips, EAS products are now the gold standard in an industry plagued by lax regulation and quality control. "It's an evolutionary process," says Grant Ferrier, editor of Nutrition Business Journal , a supplement trade magazine. "Most of the largest sports nutrition brands started out as bodybuilding brands. Bodybuilders will put anything in their body to gain muscle and mass, but that means you're working with a finite customer base. If you cater just to bodybuilders, you can do $50,000 a year in sales. If you want to do $300 million in sales, what EAS roughly does annually, you have to appeal to a mass customer base." Thanks to the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, athletes who use pills, powders and protein bars to enhance performance flirt with disaster: The law deregulated the supplement industry, allowing companies to sell products without safety or quality testing. Many athletes who test positive for banned substances, including Rafael Palmeiro, have blamed their results on tainted supplements. Some probably aren't fibbing. "Other than deliberate cheating, the most common reason for a positive test is the ingestion of a dietary supplement that is contaminated with a banned substance," Dr. Elliott Pellman, medical advisor to MLB and the NFL, told a congressional panel investigating steroids in baseball last year. A decade ago, nobody would have believed EAS would someday have the NFL's blessing. In a 1998 interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Phillips acknowledged he had used and endorsed 'roids in the past. "I didn't know any other way, because no one else at the gym knew any other way, whether they were bodybuilders or ballplayers," said Phillips, the author of the Anabolic Reference Guide, a steroid bible. "Everybody was taking steroids." Phillips bought tiny EAS in 1996 and turned it into an industry giant, thanks to skyrocketing sales of creatine. Although medical experts questioned the protein supplement's safety and effectiveness, EAS creatine sales still went through the roof, thanks to a marketing campaign that included endorsements from John Elway, Terrell Davis and other members of the Denver Broncos team that won Super Bowl XXXII. A venture firm, North Castle Partners, bought EAS in 1998. The new owner dropped the creatine product and stopped selling androstenedione, Mark McGwire's steroid precursor of choice, and focused on the mainstream nutrition supplement business. Abbott Laboratories, which purchased EAS in November 2004 for $320 million, is intent on completing EAS' transformation. "We believe taking the high road and taking an ethical approach to business," Abbott executive Chris Scoggins says, "is the way to develop this brand." [Link]

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