PZ Cussons has abandoned plans to flog the St Tropez self-tanning brand after running an extensive auction process.
The group said in a statement this morning that it had received several offers for St Tropez, but the attempted sale had coincided with a challenging performance for the brand as revenues declined in the US, alongside a wider contraction of valuation multiples across the beauty category.
PZ Cussons decided to retain St Tropez after exploring alternative business models to create more value for shareholders, and will now set a new strategic direction for the brand.
This will include the establishment of a focused team to lead the brand across the group’s international footprint.
“Today we are setting a new direction for St Tropez with a renewed operating model built around a focused and incentivised team, a reset of our ‘go to market’ capabilities in the US and proven group operations in our other markets,” said CEO Jonathan Myers.
“With these changes, we are confident in the future of the brand as part of the PZ Cussons portfolio.”
PZ Cussons revealed its plans to sell St Tropez in April 2024 as part of a group-wide strategic review that also involved an exit from its African business.
Earlier this month, PZ Cussons sold its stake in Nigerian edible oils business PZ Wilmar as part of the ongoing transformation to simplify the group.
It also reported that a double-digit decline for St Tropez in the US held back overall revenue growth for the year ended 31 May 2025.
Today, PZ Cussons said it expected to write down the value of the brand to reflect the recent performance.
It added that a critical component of the new plan for St Tropez included the formation of a strategic partnership with The Emerson Group.
Emerson, which provides customer management, logistics services and brand activation in the US, will integrate St Tropez into its dedicated selling teams to US retailers – an arrangement that builds on PZ Cussons’ existing relationship with the company as the distributor of Childs Farm in the US.
The PZ Cussons board is “confident” this partnership will return St Tropez to growth in the US.
“The move will help address the challenge of our sub-scale operations in the US, as identified previously, as well as further learnings gleaned over recent months,” the statement said. “We look forward to strengthening retailer relationships as we work in partnership with Emerson to build the brand.”
Emerson CEO Scott Emerson added: “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the iconic St Tropez brand and to expand our presence in the high-growth self-tanning category. This collaboration builds on the strong partnership we’ve established with PZ Cussons in the US, and we’re excited to help bring the innovation and quality of St Tropez to even more consumers across the market.”
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