Nu Skin to Acquire Generation Health

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., a skin-care and nutritional products company with $890.6 million in 1997 sales, agreed to buy closely held Generation Health Holdings Inc. for as much as $108.1 million in stock, assumed debt and additional payments to expand its food supplements business. Generation Health is the parent of Simi Valley-based Pharmanex Inc., which had about $12 million in sales for the first three quarters of this year and owns plants in China and Chile that make supplements from herbs and mushrooms. Provo, Utah-based Nu Skin will pay 4.1 million common shares, based on Monday’s closing price of $11 a share. The final price may include up to $33 million in added payments, depending on market conditions. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other approvals. Nu Skin shares fell 63 cents to close at $10.38 on the NYSE.