Chinese investor Fosun Group has signed an agreement to purchase a 100% equity interest in Israeli skin care brand Ahava for NIS290m or $76.8m.
The company was rumoured to be buying a majority stake in Ahava last year, but Fosun has since confirmed that it will be purchasing all the holdings from existing shareholders Gaon Holdings, the Livnat family, Shamrock Israeli Growth Fund, Kibbutz Mitzpe Shalem and Kibbutz Kaliaan.
Fosun is now expected to extend the presence of the Ahava brand in Asia.
Liang Xinjun, Vice Chairman and CEO at Fosun Group, said: “We feel very confident about the market in Israel and continue to seek suitable investment opportunities in different areas in the country. We are glad to have succeeded in acquiring such a famous, strong and successful brand as Ahava under this mutually beneficial agreement. We will endeavour to extend the success of this brand to China and other countries.”
Ahava uses dead sea minerals in its range of skin care products. Its best selling products include Dead Sea Osmoter Facial Serium and Facial Mud Exfoliator. In recent years, Ahava has been the subject of a boycott thanks to the location of its factory in Mitzpe Shalem – the other side of the 1967 Green Line. Last month it confirmed that it was opening a new plant at Kibbutz Ein Gedi – on the Israeli said of the line – but it did not make clear whether or not the old base would close.