Venture Life sells CDMO division, makes senior appointments
By Josh White
Date: Friday 25 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - Venture Life Group announced on Friday that it has completed the sale of its contract development and manufacturing operations, alongside selected non-core products, as part of its shift toward a capital-light, brand-focused growth strategy.
The AIM-traded firm said the divestment, which was announced in May, followed the receipt of regulatory approvals in Italy and Sweden, and left the company with a net cash position of £36m.
It said it was now well-positioned to pursue earnings-accretive merger and acquisition opportunities.
For the six months ended 30 June 2025, Venture Life reported revenue of £15.3m, an increase of about 38% year-on-year, or around 11% on a proforma basis.
The company highlighted the strong performance of its 'Health & Her' and 'Health & Him' brands, which generated £3.4m in revenue, up about 21% on a proforma basis.
It said it expected additional growth in the second half as new product listings took full effect, supported by increased investment in marketing to strengthen its portfolio of 'Power Brands'.
Venture Life confirmed that trading was on track to meet market expectations for the full year.
To support its growth strategy, it also announced several senior appointments.
Kate Bache, co-founder of Health & Her, would join the board as chief marketing and innovation officer from 1 November, subject to regulatory approvals.
Gervase Fernandes, also a co-founder of Health & Her, was named strategic growth director.
Sarah Arthur, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, had meanwhile been appointed interim commercial director, while Matt Jeffs, an experienced corporate finance professional, had joined as head of mergers and acquisitions to drive the company's acquisition strategy.
The company said it would also change its financial year-end to 31 May, extending the current reporting period to conclude on 31 May, with the move aimed at reducing revenue seasonality and optimising operating costs.
"I am delighted to announce the completion of the divestment announced on 12 May, which has delivered the significant cash resources to the group to drive growth, now with net cash of approximately £36m, and I thank the whole team involved in delivering this," said chief executive officer Jerry Randall.
"I am also very excited to announce the senior appointments to the business, bringing a wealth of energy, expertise and experience into our business.
"Since the acquisition of Health & Her, Kate and Gervase have delivered strong year on year growth and continued to successfully develop the Health & Her brand, and I am delighted that they will be bringing that wider expertise and their energy to bear across the group as we begin to integrate Health & Her into the Venture Life Group and drive the business forward."
Randall said he was "similarly delighted" that Sarah Arthur would be joining on a full time basis where the group would, and had already started to, benefit from her "extensive expertise and experience" with Johnson & Johnson in global customer development in the health and beauty space.
"And finally the appointment of Matt returns to us that dedicated resource in order to carefully assess and transact the exciting M&A opportunities in the market.
"These appointments combined with our existing dynamic team will drive both organic and acquired growth in our business, applying the significant resource we have from the divested CDMO businesses, and delivering on our new capital light brand focused strategy for growth, and I am very excited for what the team will deliver from here."
At 1336 BST, shares in Venture Life Group were up 2.04% at 57.65p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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