Nutrition supplement company Next Proteins Inc. agreed to sell its Designer Whey product line to private equity-backed Athena Wellness Brands LLC, concluding an auction that lasted about a year.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Designer Whey sports nutrition brand generates about $20 million in annual revenue, and sold at a multiple of roughly 6 to 7 times Ebitda, Mergers & Acquisitions learned.

Athena is a newly formed company backed by Stamford, Conn.-based GarMark Partners, Syosset, N.Y.-based Northwood Ventures and Stockton Road Capital LLC in Hoboken, N.J.

The Designer assets will now operate as a subsidiary of Athena under the banner Designer Protein LLC.

“Making a decision to sell the business you founded is always difficult,” said Next Proteins’ David Jenkins in a prepared statement.

The CEO and founder of Designer Whey could have remained independent, similar to rival Jay Robb Enterprises Inc., or Gary Erickson, who founded organic energy and nutrition company Cliff Bar & Co. Financial sponsors find both companies attractive, according to a source in the industry.

Eventually strategics and PE shops approached Next, interested in its Designer protein supplements that have a unique female consumer following. Protein supplements has generally been a male-centric market, explained Brian Smith of Partnership Capital Growth Advisors, the San Francisco-based merchant bank hired to evaluate options.

Smith said PCGA made it a point to identify buyers with a background in consumer packaged goods.

Enter Cyrill Siewert of Stockton Road. Siewert served as chairman and CEO of Select Nutrition before becoming CEO at healthcare and nutrition company Amerifit Brands Inc. He will now take on the role of CEO of Designer Protein.

Amerifit was sold to New York-based private equity firm Charterhouse Group Inc. in June 2005.

On the buy side, GarMark, Northwood and Stockton received legal counsel from Finn Dixon & Herling LLP, accounting advice from Moss Adams LLP and industry expertise from New England Consulting Group.