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Unilever has agreed to sell its Elida Beauty business to US private equity player Yellow Wood Partners
The deal encompasses more than 20 beauty and personal care brands including Q-Tips, Caress, Timotei and Tigi.
Elida’s brands also include Monsavon, St. Ives, Zwitsal, Ponds, Brut, Moussel, Alberto Balsam and Matey.
Unilever said the business generated turnover of around €0.8bn in 2022.
Fabian Garcia, President of Unilever Personal Care, commented: “This marks another step towards the optimisation of our Personal Care portfolio. Our priority is to step up the growth of our Power Brands by investing behind 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 sure under the new ownership they will continue to prosper and serve consumers across North America and Europe.”
Tad Yanagi, Partner of Yellow Wood Partners, added: “We are excited to work with the Elida Beauty team to lead these brands into their next phase of growth and expansion. Consumers around the world love these brands as they are an important part of their daily lives.
“We believe the brands will flourish in the Yellow Wood operating model where our teams will work to build and enhance growth and accessibility.”
Jean-Laurent Ingles, CEO of Elida Beauty said: “Elida Beauty has an exciting future following the proposed acquisition by Yellow Wood Partners and I look forward to the next stage of our journey.”
Financial terms of the offer are undisclosed. The binding offer is subject to the usual closing conditions, regulatory requirements, and consultation processes.
Completion is expected by mid-2024.
Morning update
Drinks producer and distributor C&C Group has appointed Andrew Andrea as Chief Financial Officer.
Andrea will join C&C as CFO and Executive Director, effective 1 March 2024.
The appointment follows the completion of a “rigorous” recruitment process undertaken by the Nomination Committee in conjunction with an independent executive search firm.
Andrea is a drinks industry veteran having served in senior roles at pub group Marston’s for over 20 years.
He joined Marston’s in 2002 and was appointed to the board as finance director in 2009. He served in a variety of senior roles in the business including 12 years as CFO & corporate development officer and, subsequently, as CEO during which time he navigated the business out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent challenging macroeconomic environment.
He previously held roles with Guinness Brewing Worldwide and Bass Brewers.
Ralph Findlay, who has served as executive chair since May 2023, will revert to the role of non-executive chair following a short transition period after Andrea joins the group.
Patrick McMahon, C&C Group CEO, commented: “Andrew brings a rare depth of experience within our industry to C&C and we are delighted to welcome him to the business. We continue to focus on building C&C as the premium drinks and distribution business in the UK and Irish markets. Andrew will bring invaluable expertise and insight to our team and help deliver on that ambition.”
Andrew Andrea, incoming C&C group CFO, added: “C&C is a business that I know and have admired throughout my career in the industry. The Group’s combination of iconic brands and market-leading distribution capability is unique and I look forward to bringing my expertise and working with the entire C&C team to support the growth of the business in the years ahead.”
On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 is up 0.2% to 7,591.4pts this morning.
Risers include Glanbia, up 3.7% to €16.18, Wynnstay, up 3.7% to 363p and McBride, up 2.2% to 88.9p.
Fallers so far include Greggs, down 1.5% to 2,470p, Ocado, down 1.9% to 709.6p and Just Eat Takeaway.com, down 2% to 1,264p.
This week in the City
It is a typically quiet week for scheduled news in the final week before Christmas.
There is no scheduled company news in the calendar this week.
The most notable entry in the diary is the release of monthly UK inflation figures from the ONS on Wednesday.
Friday morning will see the publication of the ONS Retail Sales figures for November.
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