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Dr Kartar and Tej Lalvani
Photo: LinkedIn
Tej Lalvani set to sell family's vitamin empire for £900m
May 31, 2026
Highlights
- Vitabiotics could be sold to Bain Capital for around £900m
- Deal could be confirmed as early as this week, say City sources
- Lalvani family bought the firm through a British Virgin Islands parent company
Vitabiotics brands include Wellman, Wellwoman, Pregnacare and Perfectil
BRITISH ASIAN businessman Tej Lalvani is poised to sell his family’s multivitamin empire to a Boston-based private equity firm for nearly £1 billion, reported the Sunday Times.
Bain Capital, a private equity firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, is expected to seal a deal to buy Vitabiotics, the UK's largest multivitamin company, as early as this week.
According to the Times, the agreed price is understood to be around £900 million, though sources warned that negotiations remain delicate and a deal could yet be delayed or fall through.
Tej is best known to television audiences as a former investor on Dragons' Den.
Vitabiotics was founded in 1971 by Tej's father, Kartar Lalvani. The firm has grown to become “the UK’s No 1 Vitamin Company”, with an annual turnover of £250 million and sales to 80 countries. The family was ranked 18th in the Asian Rich List 2026, published by Eastern Eye, with an estimated wealth of £970 million.
Tej joined the business straight after university, starting out driving a forklift in the warehouse before working his way up through operations and eventually taking over as chief executive in 2015.
During his time in charge, the company's annual global sales are said to have grown from £101 million to nearly £196 million.
The family own the business through a parent company registered in the British Virgin Islands. That structure means Vitabiotics is not required to make the finer details of its finances public.
Alongside running the business, Tej joined the BBC's Dragons' Den in 2017, spending four years on the show backing businesses ranging from herbal tea makers to protein shake brands.
Vitabiotics, whose celebrity ambassadors include television presenter Davina McCall, model David Gandy and former Strictly host Tess Daly, sells a range of well-known health supplement brands across the UK and internationally.
The sale process has been running since early 2025, overseen by boutique investment bank Houlihan Lokey. The field of potential buyers was eventually narrowed down to Bain Capital and asset manager Blackstone, before Vitabiotics entered exclusive talks with Bain last month.
Bain Capital caused significant controversy in 2021 when it agreed to buy British insurance mutual LV for £530 million, only for LV's members to vote down the takeover. Bain Capital declined to comment. Vitabiotics was approached for comment.
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