Mass beauty giant Unilver has confirmed in a press release that it has received a binding offer for Elida Beauty. Elida Beauty brings together more than twenty personal care and beauty brands, such as Timotei, Q-Tips, Caress and Tigi.
As Unilever Personal Care president Fabian Garcia said, this is due to an optimisation of the personal care brand portfolio: "Our priority is to accelerate the growth of our Power Brands by investing in key strategic focus areas, such as driving unmissable brand superiority and scaling multi-year innovations. Elida Beauty's portfolio comprises iconic and classic beauty and personal care brands. I am confident that under the new ownership they will continue to thrive and serve consumers across North America and Europe."
The acquiring party has also hailed the deal as a success and is enthusiastic about the acquisition of Elida Beauty "Consumers around the world love these brands because they are an important part of their daily lives. We believe the brands will thrive in Yellow Wood's operating model, where our teams will work to build and enhance growth and accessibility," explained Tad Yanagi, partner at Yellow Wood Partners.
The details of this offer are not yet known, although Unilever points out that it is subject to closing conditions and the usual regulatory requirements. The company says it expects to close the deal by mid-2024.
Rumours of a sale of Unilever were already unveiled in September. The British multinational signed an agreement with investment banks Morgan Stanley and Evercore to put Elida Beauty up for sale. Elida Beauty earned in 2022 a figure of around 715 million euros and this was the second attempt to sell Elida Beauty. The first was in 2021, when it relied on the services of Credit Suisse for its sale, but did not find any offer that suited its needs.
Yellow Wood Partners is an investment fund that only invests in beauty and personal care brands, such as Byoma, Scholl, Palmperfect or Freeman Beauty. It currently owns a total of 22 brands.