Schiff Nutrition International, Salt Lake City, UT, through its subsidiary Schiff Nutrition Group, has purchased certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Ganeden Biotech, Inc., Cleveland, OH, for $40 million in cash.

Schiff now owns the worldwide exclusive rights to use the leading probiotic technology GanedenBC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086) in the over-the-counter and dietary supplement space and the leading brands Sustenex and Digestive Advantage under which BC30 is currently sold. Ganeden and Schiff also intend to collaborate on extending the use of probiotic technologies into new areas of human health.

The probiotics category is growing more than 20% on an annualized basis, according to Nutrition Business Journal. GanedenBC30 has more than 95 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications. Its successful probiotic bacteria strains have been shown to be hardier than other probiotic strains. Recently GanedenBC30 was introduced in gummies and chews, providing consumers an easier way to take supplements.

“Our focus is to deliver shareholder value by building premium brands and leading innovation,” said Tarang Amin, president and CEO of Schiff Nutrition. “By acquiring the rights to the leading probiotics technology, we have entered a new, rapidly expanding category that creates accretive growth opportunities.

“We believe BC30 has many inherent physical properties that make it superior to other traditional probiotic organisms. We intend to leverage this enviable technology and grow the Sustenex and Digestive Advantage lines. In addition, we plan to capitalize on Schiff’s brand marketing know-how, provide incremental marketing investment and use our well established customer relationships to increase distribution.”

The assets and brands acquired from Ganeden generated net revenue of approximately $17 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. This transaction is expected to increase Schiff’s net revenues and, excluding one-time costs, be accretive to earnings for its fiscal year ended May 31, 2012. Management intends to address the impact of the acquisition on the company’s financial position when it announces its fourth quarter and fiscal 2011 financial results scheduled for July.