Hong Kong health and beauty retailer AS Watson Group is negotiating to acquire UK health retailer Holland & Barrett.

While an official bid has not yet been tabled, insiders say AS Watson is apparently willing to pay £1 billion (US$1.2 billion). Talks between the two companies are in their early stages.

AS Watson already has more than 13,000 stores and 130,000 employees in 25 countries.

Holland & Barrett is part of NBTY, owned by private equity firm Carlyle, which has been trying to sell NBTY for about €5.5 billion (US$6.1 billion). Meanwhile, several private equity firms have also expressed an interest in the Holland & Barrett chain.

Holland & Barrett has more than 1400 stores in 16 countries. More than half of its own stores are in the UK.