The sale process for Eu Yan Sang International, a Singapore-headquartered traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) provider, is advancing to a final round of binding bids due by year-end as first round bids for the majority stake sale have been collected, two sources familiar with the situation said.

The selling shareholders, led by Singapore-based asset manager Tower Capital Asia, are expected to announce the winner by the end of January, the first source said.

Singapore-based private equity firm Hillhouse Capital, which already owns a 10% stake in the 144-year-old target, is among those that have submitted a non-binding bid, the same source said.

Hillhouse is expected to offer around the mid-teens EBITDA multiple and may emerge as the most aggressive bidder. The Chinese growth investor would consider exiting its existing stake should a higher bid materialize, the second source said.

The deal, which is advised by UBS and Deutsche Bank, has also attracted the attention of Chinese buyout firm Boyu Capital, said the first two sources.

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals [HKG: 2607] is also among the interested bidders, according to the second and third source familiar with the situation.

Beijing-based TCM producer Tong Ren Tang [SHA: 600085], a US private equity firm, and a Chinese financial sponsor are in the buyer fray, the second and third sources added.

Mitsui & Co [TYO: 8031], another minority shareholder, had also expressed interest in a majority stake buy of Eu Yan Sang, as reported by Mergermarket in November. It is unclear whether the Japanese trading house remains in pursuit of the deal.

In May 2016, Tower Capital Asia, Temasek, and the founding Eu family acquired a remaining 75.32% stake for 13.12x EV/EBITDA on a FY15 EBITDA of SGD 31.38m (USD 23.6m) in a take-private transaction, according to Mergermarket data.

The founding family may opt to retain a partial stake in the sale process, as reported.

Eu Yan Sang, Tower Capital, Hillhouse, Boyu, Shanghai Pharma, Tong Ren Tang did not respond to requests for comment.

Founded in 1879, Eu Yan Sang operates over 170 retail outlets in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Macau, as well as 30 TCM clinics and a food and beverage outlet. It markets around 900 products under the Eu Yan Sang brand, including flagship products such as Bak Foong Pills for women’s health and Bo Ying Compound for infant health.

Eu Yan Sang has a score of 61 out of 100, according to Mergermarket’s Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive algorithm.*

*Mergermarket’s LTE predictive analytics assign a score to sponsor-backed companies to help track and predict when an exit could occur through M&A, an IPO, a direct listing or a deSPAC transaction.