RONKONKOMA, N.Y., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NBTY, Inc. (NYSE: NTY), a leading global manufacturer and marketer of nutritional supplements, today announced that it has established a record date and a meeting date for a special meeting of its stockholders to consider and vote upon the proposal to adopt the previously announced merger agreement, dated as of July 15, 2010, providing for the acquisition of NBTY by Alphabet Holding Company, Inc., an entity formed by an affiliate of TC Group, L.L.C. (d/b/a The Carlyle Group).

NBTY stockholders of record at the close of business on Monday, August 23, 2010 will be entitled to receive notice of the special meeting and to vote at the special meeting. The special meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, at 2100 Smithtown Avenue, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779.

About NBTY, Inc.

NBTY is a leading global vertically integrated manufacturer, marketer and distributor of a broad line of high-quality, value-priced nutritional supplements in the United States and throughout the world. Under a number of NBTY and third party brands, the Company offers over 25,000 products, including products marketed by the Company's Nature's Bounty® (www.NaturesBounty.com), Vitamin World® (www.VitaminWorld.com), Puritan's Pride® (www.Puritan.com), Holland & Barrett® (www.HollandAndBarrett.com), Rexall® (www.Rexall.com), Sundown® (www.SundownNutrition.com), MET-Rx® (www.MetRX.com), Worldwide Sport Nutrition® (www.SportNutrition.com), American Health® (www.AmericanHealthUS.com), GNC (UK)® (www.GNC.co.uk), DeTuinen® (www.DeTuinen.nl), LeNaturiste(TM) (www.LeNaturiste.com), SISU® (www.SISU.com), Solgar® (www.Solgar.com), Good 'n' Natural® (www.goodnnatural.com), Home Health(TM) (www.homehealthus.com), Julian Graves, Ester-C® (www.Ester-C.com) and Natural Wealth (www.naturalwealth.com brands. NBTY routinely posts information that may be important to investors on its web site.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to NBTY, the proposed merger and its business. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "subject to," "believe," "expects," "plan," "project," "estimate," "intend," "may," "will," "should," "can," or "anticipates," or the negative thereof, or variations thereon, or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy. Although all of these forward looking statements are believed to be reasonable, they are inherently uncertain. Factors which may materially affect such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to (i) slow or negative growth in the nutritional supplement industry; (ii) interruption of business or negative impact on sales and earnings due to acts of God, acts of war, terrorism, bio-terrorism, civil unrest or disruption of mail service; (iii) adverse publicity regarding nutritional supplements; (iv) inability to retain customers of companies (or mailing lists) recently acquired; (v) increased competition; (vi) increased costs; (vii) loss or retirement of key members of management; (viii) increases in the cost of borrowings and/or unavailability of additional debt or equity capital; (ix) unavailability of, or inability to consummate, advantageous acquisitions in the future, including those that may be subject to bankruptcy approval or the inability of NBTY to integrate acquisitions into the mainstream of its business; (x) changes in general worldwide economic and political conditions in the markets in which NBTY may compete from time to time; (xi) the inability of NBTY to gain and/or hold market share of its wholesale and/or retail customers anywhere in the world; (xii) unavailability of electricity in certain geographical areas; (xiii) the inability of NBTY to obtain and/or renew insurance and/or the costs of the same; (xiv) exposure to and expense of defending and resolving product liability and intellectual property claims and other litigation; (xv) the ability of NBTY to successfully implement its business strategy; (xvi) the inability of NBTY to manage its retail, wholesale, manufacturing and other operations efficiently; (xvii) consumer acceptance of NBTY's products; (xviii) the inability of NBTY to renew leases for its retail locations; (xix) the inability of NBTY's retail stores to attain or maintain profitability; (xx) the absence of clinical trials for many of NBTY's products; (xxi) sales and earnings volatility and/or trends for the Company and its market segments; (xxii) the efficacy of NBTY's Internet and on-line sales and marketing strategies; (xxiii) fluctuations in foreign currencies, including the British pound, the Euro and the Canadian dollar; (xxiv) import-export controls on sales to foreign countries; (xxv) the inability of NBTY to secure favorable new sites for, and delays in opening, new retail and manufacturing locations; (xxvi) introduction of and compliance with new federal, state, local or foreign legislation or regulation or adverse determinations by regulators anywhere in the world (including the banning of products) and more particularly Good Manufacturing Practices in the United States, the Food Supplements Directive and Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive in Europe and Section 404 requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; (xxvii) the mix of NBTY's products and the profit margins thereon; (xxviii) the availability and pricing of raw materials; (xxix) risk factors discussed in NBTY's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; (xxx) adverse effects on NBTY as a result of increased energy prices and potentially reduced traffic flow to NBTY's retail locations; (xxxi) adverse tax determinations; (xxxii) the loss of a significant customer of the Company; (xxxiii) potential investment losses as a result of liquidity conditions; (xxxiv) other factors beyond the Company's control; and (xxxv) uncertainties associated with the proposed sale of NBTY to a company controlled by Carlyle, including uncertainties relating to the anticipated timing of filings and approvals relating to the transaction, the expected timing of completion of the transaction and the ability to complete the transaction.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. NBTY cannot guarantee future results, trends, events, levels of activity, performance or achievements. NBTY does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update, republish or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrences of unanticipated events.

Consequently, such forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as NBTY's current plans, estimates and beliefs.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed merger (the "Merger") of NBTY, Inc. (the "Company") with Alphabet Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Holding Company, Inc., the Company filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC on August 3, 2010. When completed, a definitive proxy statement and a form of proxy will be mailed to Company stockholders of record as of August 23, 2010. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, THE COMPANY'S STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PRELIMINARY PROXY STATEMENT AND, WHEN AVAILABLE, THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THESE PROXY STATEMENTS WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MERGER. The Company's stockholders will be able to obtain, without charge, a copy of the preliminary proxy statement, the definitive proxy statement (when available) and other relevant documents filed with the SEC from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Company's stockholders will also be able to obtain, without charge, a copy of the preliminary proxy statement, the definitive proxy statement (when available) and other relevant documents by directing a request by mail or telephone to NBTY, Inc. Attn: General Counsel, 2100 Smithtown Avenue, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779, telephone: (631) 567-9500, or from the Company's website, http://www.nbty.com.

Participants in Solicitation

The Company and its directors and officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company's stockholders with respect to the Merger. Information about the Company's directors and executive officers and their ownership of the Company's common stock is set forth in the proxy statement for the Company's 2010 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on January 15, 2010. Stockholders may obtain additional information regarding the interests of the Company and its directors and executive officers in the Merger, which may be different than those of the Company's stockholders generally, by reading the preliminary proxy statement, the definitive proxy statement (when available) and other relevant documents regarding the Merger when filed with the SEC.

    Contact:    Harvey Kamil                         Carl Hymans
                NBTY, Inc.                           G.S. Schwartz & Co.
                President & Chief Financial Officer  212-725-4500
                631-200-2020                         carlh@schwartz.com

SOURCE NBTY, Inc.