Health food retailer Julian Graves has been snapped up by rival chain Holland & Barrett. The 345-store business had been under review by its Icelandic owner Baugur since June, when Baugur admitted it had received a number of approaches for the chain.

NBTY Europe, which owns 544 Holland & Barrett stores in the UK and Ireland as well as 31 GNC stores, said it had always planned to acquire Julian Graves.

“This is an exciting milestone for our company, and fantastic news for our business as we have always identified Julian Graves as a key competitor,” said Peter Aldis, managing director of the Holland & Barrett Group.

Julian Graves is the latest business to be sold by Baugur. In June this year it sold its 31.4% stake in cash & carry giant Booker to focus on retailing, and in the same month also sold Woodward Foodservice to Brakes.

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