North Castle Looks For EAS Exit –

North Castle, responding to inquiries about the business, is currently in the process of considering its exit options for Experimental & Applied Sciences, better known as EAS. According to Baird, the firm has received considerable interest in the company from strategic inquirers, and Hershey has been fingered in published reports as the most likely bidder to emerge.

EAS was acquired by North Castle in 1999. The business, which manufactures and distributes nutritional food and supplements, markets its products under the EAS HP, Myoplex, AdvantEdge and Piranha brands. UBS has been hired to advise North Castle on the sale.

Additionally, North Castle is in the process of looking to recapitalize its Leiner Health Products Group drug maker platform. We’ve been an investor in Leiner for seven years,” Baird said. “We’re looking to bring in other investors, but North Castle will continue to play an important role in the company going forward…We feel it has never been positioned better.”

Leiner, the first investment by North Castle in 1997, is a private-label maker of vitamins, dietary supplements and over the counter drugs. Reportedly, Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and Ripplewood Holdings are among those rumored to be looking at an investment in the potential recap.