Manuka Health, the functional food and dietary supplement company, is reviewing capital-raising options to help fund a global rollout of new products said to boost the antibacterial qualities of manuka honey and its pipeline of research and development.
The private company has ruled out a public listing at this stage but chief executive Kerry Paul said it was considering options including new investors.
Manuka Health was founded in 2006 and exports 90-plus products based on propolis, royal jelly, bee pollen, and manuka honey to 45 countries. It has annual turnover of more than $50 million, 80 staff, and is owned by several private shareholders including Paul and family interests associated with chairman Ray Thomson, and institutional investors, Milford Asset Management and Waterman Capital.
Manuka Health holds the worldwide licence and pays royalties on sales to Kobe University of Medicine in Japan for the new technology, which combines encapsulated manuka honey with plant-derived cyclodextrin, a report on the company's website said.
The combination boosts the anti-bacterial properties of the manuka honey by between 25 to 50 times depending on the product.
