US group Metagenics has healthy appetite for probiotics maker Symprove

One of Britain’s leading home-grown manufacturers of probiotic supplements is to be taken over by an American peer amid booming demand for gut-health and wellbeing products.

Sky News has learnt that Symprove, which was launched by Barry Smith from his Surrey farm in 2010, is being bought by Metagenics, a New Jersey-based provider of nutritional supplements. The deal is expected to be announced on Thursday.

Money latest: Nationwide reveals expansion of mortgages worth six times salary City sources said the transaction would crystallise a windfall for bd-capital, Symprove's private equity backer, and the company's other shareholders. The price being paid by Metagenics was unclear.

Mr Smith conceived of his water-based formula as a treatment for farm animals before deducing that it would also be beneficial to humans' gut health. Since then, it has become one of Britain's leading probiotic brands and claims to be the one most recommended by healthcare practitioners.

Symprove's products can offer effective treatment for sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) as well as the gastric symptoms of other diseases including Parkinson's. The company has benefited from growing consumer interest in gut health and its impact on their general physical and mental wellbeing.

Under bd-capital's ownership since 2020, it has grown to become Europe's largest subscription business of its kind, with chief executive Will Bowler overseeing rapid annual sales increases. Sources said Symprove had had takeover interest from a wide range of strategic and financial investors, but that its owners had prioritised finding a new owner which could grow its international reach while maintaining its scientific focus.

Metagenics is backed by Gryphon Investors, a US-based private investment firm which was advised by Greenhill and Spayne Lindsay on the acquisition. Jefferies advised Symprove's owners on the sale.

The deal represents the first exit from an investment for bd-capital, which was co-founded by Richard Baker, the former Boots chief executive, and Andy Dawson, a senior figure in the UK private equity industry from his time at Advent International. Neither bd-capital nor Symprove could be reached for comment on Wednesday evening..