Reckitt Benckiser completes tender offer

NEW YORK (AP) -- British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC has completed the tender offer for vitamin and nutrition supplement maker Schiff Nutrition International Inc.

Last month Reckitt announced that it was buying Schiff Nutrition for $1.4 billion, topping an earlier bid by Bayer AG.

Reckitt said at the time that the transaction would build on its health care business in the U.S., where it already sells brands such as Mucinex, Delsym and Durex. Schiff products include Tiger's Milk nutrition bars and Airborne immune system health supplements.

Reckitt offered $42 per share for Schiff only weeks after Bayer offered $34 per share for the Salt Lake City-based company. The German drugmaker later said it did not want to engage in a bidding war for Schiff.

The tender offer expired on Friday.

Reckitt said Monday that approximately 28.7 million shares of Schiff, or about 96.3 percent of the company's outstanding shares, were validly tendered.