Narrative
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Project narrative
On February 13, 2018, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holdings Co., Ltd. — a Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical corporation with CITIC Capital Holdings Limited, a related company of Chinese state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group Corporation, as its major shareholder — entered into a strategic investment and China joint venture agreement with GNC Holdings, Inc. — a Delaware-incorporated American health food and wellness (vitamin and herbal supplements) retailer and body building chain listed on the New York Stock Exchange and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — that would see Harbin become the single largest shareholder in GNC via the acquisition of 299,950 shares of GNC Holdings' Convertible Preferred Stock (a 40% stake) for an aggregate amount of $299,950,000 USD (giving it the right to designate up to five directors of the company) and the establishment of a joint venture (65% Harbin and 35% GNC) for the manufacture, marketing, sale, and distribution of GNC-branded products in China. As part of the acquisition, the parties were required to obtain approval from the Committee on the Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and for Harbin to provide a schedule of individuals and entities that own a stake of 5% of greater in it, as well as ownership for all individuals and entities affiliated with any foreign government. To underwrite the acquisition, the Bank of China provided a loan to Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holdings Co., Ltd.. On September 7, 2018, CFIUS concluded its review and found unresolved national security concerns for the acquisition. The acquisition closed on on November 9, 2018. In October 2020, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group acquired all of the assets of GNC Holdings, using a $400 million USD loan, as captured by Record ID#106191.