BRATTLEBORO — You've all heard the news: Procter and Gamble has purchased New Chapter.
That's the story, but our personal story is so much more. We have felt moved to address our community of loyal customers in a more direct way. We appreciate that you might not agree with this purchase and that, indeed, you might be skeptical about it.
But we would like you to better understand what brought us to this announcement.
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New Chapter is our child in many ways. We started in the '70s with a health-food store and a healing mission. We recognized the healing power of herbs and whole-food-complexed supplementation at a time when these concepts were yet to be discovered by most, even within our own industry.
We wanted to share our enthusiasm for herbal healing with the world.
With that vision, and our success, we grew our company from one that started in our home, into a business that moved to Main Street, then to High Street, and then to our current headquarters on Technology Drive.
That growth happened because of a passionate drive our mission instilled in us and our incredibly talented workforce, along with the beneficial results that come from products formulated to deliver the wisdom of nature.
And it also happened because we were able to raise capital along the way.
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From the start, we have had investors: first, family and friends and then dedicated business partners and inspired individuals who believed in us, as well as financial firms. Those investors provided the money we needed to support continued growth and innovation in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Although we as founders are most identified with New Chapter, the company is owned by about 125 shareholders, with no one of them, including us, holding a majority of the shares.
Over the past year, our company again sought growth capital. In that process, we found that a number of firms were interested in a potential acquisition.
Our board, whose primary responsibility is to the economic interests of the shareholders, established a process to review all possible transactions. Doing so was its duty under the law, as New Chapter is a Delaware corporation.
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The company received more interest than ever expected from both corporations and private equity firms. As different firms looked at New Chapter, we both felt a lot of trepidation.
Some would have “integrated” us into their existing operations, meaning loss of jobs. Some would have bought us and then, after a period of time, resold us.
Enter Procter and Gamble, the offer recommended by our board of directors to our shareholders.
Like many of you, we at first found this hard to imagine, but through many conversations about how they would manage our business, we reached the conclusion that their desire to “do no harm” to New Chapter is real.
The company recognized our expertise in our category, which is now one of the fastest growing in the health-care sector. Proctor and Gamble wants to keep what we have. What we have is successful. Altering New Chapter would not be in its economic interest.
This transaction is much like that of Stonyfield Yogurt some years ago. Like Stonyfield within the Danone Corporation, New Chapter remains a standalone.
New Chapter continues to be headquartered in Brattleboro, adhering to its product mission, formulation philosophy, and workplace practices. Both of us will remain actively and enthusiastically involved.
We consider this opportunity with Procter and Gamble an extraordinary one; we have been offered the chance to deliver our healing mission to countless more people who will benefit from our products and to maintain the integrity of who we are as a company.
We simply couldn't ask for more.
We hope you will not jump to conclusions and will instead give this venture the time it needs to prove itself.
We have a high degree of confidence, and we, and our diligent staff, will be vigilant to assure that New Chapter remains faithful to its founding principles.