P&G Pays $3.8 Billion for Thorne as CPG Giants Race to Buy Into Wellness

Quick Facts

Procter & Gamble agreed to acquire Thorne for $3.8 billion on Aug. 4, 2026, with the deal expected to close in Q2 fiscal year 2027.
Unilever paid $1.2 billion for gummy supplement brand Grüns, founded in 2023, just days after selling $42.7 billion in food brands.
The global wellness market reached $6.8 trillion in 2024, up 7.9% year over year, and is projected to hit $9.8 trillion by 2029.

Procter & Gamble is paying $3.8 billion for Thorne, a premium supplement brand that L Catterton took private in 2023 for $680 million. The deal, disclosed in an Aug. 4, 2026 SEC filing, is the largest wellness acquisition of the year and signals how aggressively legacy consumer goods companies are repositioning their portfolios.

Thorne was founded in 1984 and sells products ranging from creatine to prenatal vitamins. The company was on track to generate $650 million in total sales in 2026, according to CNBC. The majority of its revenue comes from shoppers under 40, and direct-to-consumer sales have grown sharply in recent years.

Paul Gama, CEO of P&G Health Care, said the acquisition fits directly into the company’s health strategy. “Consumer interest in self-care, prevention, wellness, and personalized health continues to grow, and Thorne strengthens our position in premium wellness with a trusted, science-backed brand that complements our existing portfolio,” Gama said. Thorne joins a P&G health division that already includes Metamucil, Align Probiotic, New Chapter, Oral-B, and Vicks.

Thorne drew interest from multiple buyers. UK-based Haleon and Unilever were also reported as potential acquirers, according to the Financial Times, before P&G secured the deal.

Unilever Bets on a Three-Year-Old Brand

Unilever made its own headline acquisition when it paid $1.2 billion for Grüns, a gummy supplement brand launched in August 2023. The brand exceeded $300 million in annual revenue within two years and became the top-selling greens supplement on Amazon, shipping 10 million gummies per day.

Unilever historically acquired more mature businesses. Its prior wellness deals included OLLY at six years old, Liquid I.V. at eight years, Onnit at 11 years, and Nutrafol at eight years. Grüns, at under three years old, is the fastest brand launch to exit in supplement consumer packaged goods.

The timing of the Grüns deal is striking. Unilever closed the sale of $42.7 billion in food brands to McCormick on March 31, 2026. Five days later, it agreed to pay $1.2 billion for a gummy supplement startup. The company is now targeting two-thirds of sales from beauty, well-being, and personal care.

Lori Lauersen, SVP of global R&D at Unilever Wellbeing, connected the Grüns deal to broader shifts in consumer health spending. “GLP-1 is not a trend, it’s a signal to us about the shift and the investment that consumers are willing to make in order to achieve the lifestyle and health goals that they have,” she said. Grüns has seen demand from users taking GLP-1 medications who cite the product’s high fiber content.

What Is Driving the Deal Volume

The global wellness market reached $6.8 trillion in 2024, up from $6.3 trillion in 2023 and $3.4 trillion in 2013. The Global Wellness Institute projects the market will reach $9.8 trillion by 2029, growing at 7.6% annually.

Mike Ross, PwC’s U.S. consumer markets deals leader, said large CPG companies are getting more deliberate about portfolio construction. “We’re seeing CPG companies becoming much more intentional about what belongs in their portfolios, and just as importantly what doesn’t,” Ross said.

Ross identified a new variable in deal valuations: first-party consumer data. “It is no longer just about whether a product sells on a shelf; it is whether the brand shows up in an AI-generated shortlist, a social commerce feed or a subscription basket,” he said. Brands with strong direct consumer relationships are commanding higher multiples as a result.

Jason Wang, CFO and COO at H&H Group, called supplements a defensive growth category. “Strategic and financial buyers now view supplements as defensive growth assets,” Wang said. His company’s Swisse brand crossed $1 billion in annual revenue in 2025, a decade after H&H acquired it. Wang expects deal quality to matter more than deal volume in the months ahead, with science-led and operationally efficient brands attracting the most interest while undifferentiated products get passed over.