USANA chief executive steps down

Myron Wentz has stepped down as chief executive officer of USANA Health Sciences Inc., the company said Wednesday.

His son, Dave Wentz, who has been the company's president, is now CEO. The elder Wentz will continue as chairman of the company's board of directors.

The change comes a week after a pair of groups controlled by Myron Wentz terminated their offer to buy the company's outstanding shares because it appeared they would not get at least 90 percent of the company's shares — a condition in their tender offer. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that they were able to secure about 81 percent at the time of the offer withdrawal.

Gull Holdings Ltd. and Unity Acquisition Corp., led by Wentz, said in May that they would make a tender offer $26 per share to acquire outstanding USANA shares, in a move to take the company private. Wentz controls Gull, and Gull and its affiliates control about 68 percent of USANA common stock.

They later boosted the offer to $28 per share. But each offer was deemed by a special committee of the USANA board of directors to be "inadequate," and the offer spawned a pair of shareholder lawsuits.

The company, in a news release Wednesday, did not say whether Myron Wentz's resignation as CEO was related to the attempted takeover.

"These management changes, together with added cash and equity compensation, will further motivate our leadership team and will ensure that we have the skill sets in place to achieve our long-term business goals," Dave Wentz said in the news release.