Helen of Troy is buying the Drybar haircare business, Drybar Products, for $255 million in cash. The transaction does not include the salon business.
WHO: The Drybar blowout salon concept was founded by Alli Webb in 2008. The products business, which includes shampoos, conditioners, tools, and styling products, started after Drybar blowout salons took off. Today the business has over 140 blowout salons in the US and Canada while the product range is sold in outlets such as Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom and Macy’s.
Helen of Troy is a leading global consumer products company offering creative solutions for its customers through a strong portfolio of well-recognized and widely trusted brands, including OXO, Hydro Flask, Vicks, Braun, Honeywell, PUR, and Hot Tools.
WHY: The Drybar Products transaction is a fit with Helen of Troy’s strategic goal of investing in businesses that can accelerate profitable growth in categories where Helen of Troy can add value and leverage their scalable operating platform.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “We are delighted to announce that we have entered into an agreement to acquire Drybar Products, which will add a highly-respected and fast-growing brand to our Beauty business, and an 8th Leadership Brand to Helen of Troy’s portfolio,” said Helen of Troy CEO Julien Mininberg. “Drybar products are winning in the prestige category with premium appliances, liquids, and accessories that resonate with a wealthier, on-trend consumer demographic for use at home and by stylists. The business has more than doubled in size since 2016 and continues to grow at a healthy double-digit rate across a wide array of retailers including ULTA, Sephora, Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, and of course, Drybar salons.”
Mr. Mininberg continued, “Strategically, we believe Drybar Products is an excellent fit with Helen of Troy. Drybar will complement our Revlon and HOT Tools products, allowing our brands to resonate with consumers and professionals across the good, better, and best segments. We believe there is excellent upside potential for Drybar Products and we expect to capitalize on our expertise in beauty, appliances, new product development, sales, marketing, category development, and international. Additionally, once we complete the necessary integration activities, we expect to add further value to the business and achieve meaningful synergies by leveraging Helen of Troy’s highly capable shared services through our global sourcing, distribution and back-office capabilities.”
“We believe Helen of Troy’s license to Drybar Holdings will create a powerful business relationship that will strengthen the brand’s moat in the industry. Helen of Troy plans to further improve and expand the products business, while Drybar Holdings plans to build out its salon footprint and maintain an exceptional consumer experience. The salons, which feature professional stylists who demonstrate and recommend Drybar products thousands of times a day to a growing clientele, will exclusively use, promote, and sell our Drybar products globally. We are also very pleased to welcome the Drybar products team to the Helen of Troy family at the closing of the acquisition, including its leader, John Heffner.”
Mr. Heffner, on behalf of Drybar Holdings LLC, said, “Over the last ten years, Drybar has led a disruption of the traditional salon industry through its market-leading, blowout-only salons, and highly successful prestige products. At Drybar, we focus on one thing only—blowouts—and we make sure we are the best at it whether it is with our salon services or the fantastic line up of products that we sell to help our customers re-create or maintain their Drybar look at home. As we look towards the future, I could not be more pleased to join Helen of Troy Beauty and Drybar Holdings could not be more pleased to join forces with Helen of Troy.”
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