Kirin announced last Friday that it is acquiring Jamieson Wellness for C$2.5bn (US$1.78bn).
During a press conference held on the same day, the company revealed that it has been scouting for a potential acquisition target in North America since 2020, and the time is now ripe to take on the market.
“North America is the world’s biggest market for health foods, health science and it is a hub of innovation, as well as the market with various health needs,” said Minakata during the press conference. “Kirin, under such a circumstance, has been looking for a good candidate company to invest in since 2020.”
This is the third health and wellness company that Kirin is acquiring in the past three years – starting from Australia-based Blackmores in 2023 and fellow Japanese firm FANCL a year later.
The decision to enter North America now also comes as Kirin’s health science business became profitable for the first time in FY2025.
“Last year, we were fortunate that the health science business became profitable, and we are now at the stage to challenge the next level of growth,” said Minakata.
Revenue of Kirin’s health science business grew 43.4% to JPY251.4bn (US$1.6bn) in FY25. FANCL contributed JPY112.6bn (US$715.2m) while Blackmores brought in JPY70.2bn (US$445.9m)
Normalized operating profit of the health science business in FY25 also turned from a deficit of JPY10.9bn (US$69.2m) to a profit of JPY11.1bn (US$70.5m). FANCL contributed a profit of JPY9.6bn (US$61m) while that of Blackmores was JPY6.3bn (US$40m).
Jamieson Wellness, on the other hand, recorded revenue of C$822.1m (US$589.9m) last year, which was a year-on-year increase of 12%. About 65% of its revenue comes from North America and it has business in more than 50 countries.
Kirin has set the goal of becoming “one of the largest health science companies in Asia-Pacific” by 2035, with revenue of JPY500bn (US$3.2bn) and a normalized operating profit margin of 15%.
Kirin’s latest financial results announced on Friday also showed that the health science business has continued to grow, as revenue climbed 1.3% to JPY128.8bn (US$818m) in Q2 FY2026. Normalized operating profit also increased by 20.8% to JPY10.4bn (US$66m).
“Mergers and acquisitions are one way to drive long-term growth. This acquisition is going to be a big part of accelerating to our 2035 vision, but we also would like to make use of organic growth to reach the vision,” he said.
Since April this year, Kirin also began operating a new entity named Kirin Health Science International to oversee Kirin’s B2C health science business outside of Japan. This entity is led by Blackmores CEO Alastair Symington.
Synergies
While Jamieson Wellness could help expand Kirin’s health science business to include North America, Kirin could also contribute by providing its proprietary ingredients in the innovation of new products by Jamieson Wellness.
In fact, this is already ongoing between Kirin and Blackmores.
Kirin is known for two main health functional ingredients, namely the immune-support postbiotic LC-Plasma (Lactococcus lactis strain Plasma) and citicoline for cognitive health. Last March, Kirin and Blackmores launched their first collaborative product – a sachet powder for supporting immune health – under the Blackmores’ banner in Taiwan.
Last month, Kirin also announced the launch of two new cognitive support supplements by Blackmores featuring Cognizin Citicoline. The two products, known as Blackmores Cognition Ultra and Blackmores Ultra Brain Care are launched in Australia and New Zealand respectively.
On October 13, Kirin will also launch its first kids supplement in Japan – a chewable featuring LC-plasma for immune care.
