Neways Inc., which has been the subject of buyout speculation for several months, was sold to a San Francisco private equity firm in a deal concluded late Wednesday.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Buyer Golden Gate Capital, which specializes in leveraged buyouts and manages about $3 billion in capital, is no stranger to the nutraceuticals industry. The company, along with another private equity firm Whitney & Co. LLC, acquired Herbalife International, a Los Angeles-based weight loss and dietary supplements maker, for about $685 million two years after the death of its multimillionaire founder, Mark Reynolds Hughes, in 2000.

James Watson, vice president of human resources and organizational development for Neways, declined to comment on whether any layoffs are planned. The privately held company has 1,300 workers globally, 550 of whom are located at its Springville headquarters and manufacturing plant in Salem.

Neways will retain its name and its existing executive management team, Watson said. Eric Larsen, who joined Neways as vice president of international operations and development in 2004, will remain its chief executive under the new management. Larsen was appointed CEO in March after the retirement of former CEO Michael Cunningham.

Larsen, who in a news release Wednesday described the sale as a "major milestone" in Neways's history, declined to comment on its plans under new ownership and the impact of its sale for the nutraceuticals industry in Utah.

In an interview with the Daily Herald last month, Larsen denied claims in a Reuters news report from Tokyo that the company was being sold. The Reuters story, which ran Sept. 26, cited unnamed sources that claimed Neways was being auctioned in Japan for between $600 million and $700 million, with private equity houses among the bidders.

Prescott Ashe, managing director of Golden Gate, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday on future plans for the Springville maker of dietary supplements and personal care products.

"As a strategic investor, we focus on businesses with attractive growth potential and Neways is a perfect fit," Ashe said in Wednesday's news release. "The company's core mission -- creating products with 100 percent non-harmful ingredients -- has driven more than a decade of consecutive, annual revenue growth. By partnering with the Neways management team and its approximately 500,000 global distributors, we are confident that this strong historical performance will continue."

Neways made $750 million in sales last year, and is projected to grow another 5 percent to 10 percent this year, Larsen said in the October interview. More than half of Neways's sales in skin care and nutritional products come from Japan, with the remainder from 23 other countries.

Watson said Golden Gate was one of several interested parties wooing Neways for the past few months. "Golden Gate will bring additional support, resources and good oversight to Neways in the transition. The deal will provide more opportunities and benefits for our distributors. I think we'll hit the billion-dollar level mark in sales very soon, with the additional resources to expand and develop new products. Golden Gate bought Herbalife after its founder Mark Hughes died. They understand our company."

In its most recent earnings statement, Herbalife reported a 3 percent drop in net profits to $26.5 million, or 36 cents a share, for the third quarter, from $27.1 million, or 37 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Herbalife officials cited a $14.3 billion after-tax charge related to debt refinancing.

Neways's sale Wednesday ends a 14-year ownership under founders Tom and Leslie DeeAnn Mower, who had each owned 50 percent of the company. The Mowers, who divorced in July 2000, will start prison terms Monday for failing to pay personal income tax on about $3.2 million, which prosecutors say came from their companies Neways U.S., Neways Australia and Neways Malaysia. They were indicted in 2003.

In a statement Wednesday, the Mowers described the decision to sell Neways as "one of the hardest decisions" in their lives. "But we believe it is in the best interests of ourselves, employees and distributors to make the change at this time."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.