Herbalife International Inc

A 24% plunge in Herbalife Ltd.'s stock Friday, after the supplement maker's announcement that it expected slower sales growth in Mexico, illustrates the rising importance of foreign markets to the bottom line of U.S. direct-sales companies. Direct-sales or multilevel marketing has been used for decades to peddle goods as diverse as plastic containers and cosmetics.

A private investment group that owns more than a quarter of Herbalife Ltd., the Century City-based direct seller of nutritional and weight-loss supplements, has made a bid for the entire company, Herbalife said Friday. J.H. Whitney & Co., which took Herbalife private in 2002 when it purchased the company with another investor, offered $38 a share in cash this time, valuing the company at $2.7 billion.

Shares of Herbalife Ltd., which sells dietary and weight-loss supplements, rose above the $38-a-share offer by private-equity firm Whitney & Co., its largest shareholder. The shares rose $7.02, or 21%, to $40.12. Whitney's offer, disclosed late Friday, was 15% more than the closing price of Herbalife shares that day and valued the company at $2.7 billion. The company is based on Grand Cayman Island but has its headquarters in Los Angeles. The cash takeover bid by New Canaan, Conn.

Two months after acquiring David Beckham, the Galaxy has signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreement with nutritional products manufacturer Herbalife. The deal gives the direct-sales company the right to splash its name across the front of the Galaxy jersey and makes the Galaxy the second team in Major League Soccer to take advantage of the league's new shirt-sponsorship rules.

Rugby players serve as human billboards. So do cricket players, most of the world's best-known soccer stars and athletes who play the NFL's European brand of football. And, now that the Galaxy is selling space on its Major League Soccer jerseys to Herbalife, the question is whether baseball, basketball, football and hockey are any closer to making room on their jerseys for advertisers. "As soon as it pencils out financially and is deemed acceptable by fans ...

Herbalife Ltd., the Century City-based direct seller of nutritional and weight-loss supplements, said Thursday that it had rejected a $2.7-billion buyout offer from one of its largest shareholders, calling the acquisition price too low. "We remain open-minded about ways to achieve appropriate value for the company," Leroy T. Barnes Jr., chairman of a committee set up by Herbalife's board of directors to study the bid, said in a statement.

An investment group whose bid for Century City-based Herbalife Ltd. was rejected said Friday that it was withdrawing the $2.7-billion offer -- and that it might sell the Herbalife shares it owns or buy some more. J.H. Whitney & Co., which owns about a quarter of Herbalife's shares, said in a letter to Herbalife's board that it was disappointed by the rejection. The letter warned that "depending on developments," New Canaan, Conn.-based Whitney "may engage in sales or purchases of shares."

Herbalife Ltd., a seller of nutritional and weight-loss supplements, said Monday that talks about a sale of the company to its largest shareholder, Whitney & Co., had ended. A special committee set up to consider an offer was disbanded, Century City-based Herbalife said in a statement. The company said Thursday that Whitney was considering raising a previous offer of $2.7 billion, which Herbalife had rejected last month. Whitney was among the investors that took Herbalife public in 2004.

Herbalife Ltd., a seller of nutritional and weight-loss supplements, said Chairman Peter Castleman had resigned to focus on other business activities. Chief Executive Michael O. Johnson has assumed the post. Board member David Halbert also resigned, Century City-based Herbalife said.

Herbalife Ltd., which sells nutritional supplements and other weight management products, said Monday that its second-quarter earnings rose 32%, helped by sales in North America and China. Net income rose to $48.1 million, or 65 cents a share, from $36.3 million, or 49 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Excluding a tax settlement, net income was 64 cents a share. Revenue rose 14% to $530.1 million from $466 million last year.