In 2002, the company was acquired for US$685 million by J.H. Whitney & Company and Golden Gate Capital, which took the company private again. Concurrently, plant sources of ephedrine were removed from Herbalife products in 2002 after several U.S. states banned supplements containing such herbs. In April 2003, Michael O. Johnson joined Herbalife as CEO following a 17-year career with The Walt Disney Company. On December 16, 2004, the company had an initial public offering on the NYSE of 14.5 million common shares at $14 per share, netting the owners $1.3 billion. In the mid 2000s, Herbalife upgraded its manufacturing facilities, moving manufacturing to around 60% in-house, and changed how the company sold its products to distributors.