Oct. 8, 2009 (PR Newswire) --
MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: HAIN), a leading natural and organic products company, today announced the signing of a joint venture agreement with Hutchison China Meditech Ltd. ("Chi-Med") (AIM: HCM), the majority owned subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HKSE: 0013). With pharmaceutical and healthcare operations primarily in China, Chi-Med will market and distribute infant and toddler feeding products co-branded under the Earth's Best® and Zhi Ling Tong brand names and market and distribute selected Hain Celestial brands in China and other markets, leveraging the worldwide retail network for product distribution of the Hutchison Whampoa Group. Under the terms of the agreement, each partner will own 50% of a newly created entity, Hutchison Hain Organic Holdings Limited.
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"We have established a strong foundation for our brands in North America and Europe and look to deepen our franchise and widen our reach into China and Asia, said Irwin D. Simon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hain Celestial. "Our joint venture with an esteemed partner in Chi-Med and Hutchison Whampoa accelerates our entry with a partner whose values and product portfolio are entirely consistent with ours."
Christian Hogg, Chief Executive Officer of Chi-Med, said, "Tapping into Hain Celestial's know-how in natural and organic infant and toddler feeding is an important step forward in Chi-Med's strategy. The joint venture leverages Chi-Med's extensive China distribution network and significantly adds to our platform in infant nutrition, one of China's fastest growing categories. It also capitalizes on the long-established relationships and international retail strengths of Hutchison Whampoa to grow Hain Celestial's portfolio of brands in the region, to our mutual benefit."
Chi-Med, majority-owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, has a strong position in pharmaceutical and healthcare products in China, including an extensive distribution network. With its highly respected Zhi Ling Tong brand, it also has a strong platform and growing sales in the Chinese infant nutrition supplements market. Hain Celestial's Earth's Best® is the fastest growing established brand in infant feeding in the United States. Through its wholly owned A.S. Watson Group, Hutchison Whampoa is a major international retailer with over 8,400 retail stores in 34 markets. A.S. Watson has a strong presence in Asia with over 270 supermarkets and mega stores under the name PARKnSHOP and over 1,700 Watson's health and beauty stores.
