Irvine, CA—International Vitamin Corporation (IVC)announced in a press releasethat it formed a joint venture with GNC to integrate GNC’s Nutra manufacturing division into IVC’s operations. Nutra will be known as Nutra Manufacturing, LLC.

Under the joint venture agreement, the press release said, IVC will assume control of manufacturing and integrate into GNC’s supply chain, while GNC teams will continue to support product development and innovation. Under the terms of the agreement, GNC will receive $101 million from IVC in exchange for an initial majority ownership in the joint venture. Over the next four years, GNC will receive an additional $75 million from IVC as IVC’s ownership of Nutra Manufacturing increases to 100%.

Steven Dai, IVC president and CEO, said in the release, “Core to our mission is to operate the most technologically advanced and efficient manufacturing platform because the innovation, quality, and cost structure payoffs are so meaningful. When combined with IVC’s vertically integrated supply chain, the result is operational excellence that is difficult to compete with.”

Ken Martindale, chairman and CEO of GNC, said in the release, “This partnership with IVC will provide us a level of efficiency we could not have achieved on our own while allowing our team to continue focusing on delivering high quality, innovative products to our customers. IVC gives us room for future growth and supports our global expansion plans without the need for significant future capital investment.”

According to the release, the combined IVC and Nutra business will command the most competitive raw material portfolio of any enterprise in supplement manufacturing.