Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group Inc would be taken private by a management group led by CEO Brian Kahn in a deal valued at about $2.6 billion, the company said on Wednesday.

The consortium, which also includes B. Riley Financial Inc and private equity firm Irradiant Partners, would pay $30 per share, slightly above stock's closing price of $29.92 as of Jan. 9, a day before reports of a potential management buyout first surfaced.

The offer price represents an equity value of about $1.05 billion. The company in March disclosed it had received an unsolicited proposal for a buyout, but did not disclose any details about the buyer.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2023, after which Franchise Group's management team, including Kahn, would continue to lead the company and run its current portfolio of retail brands.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shailesh Kuber)