Boston-based private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners has acquired branded cosmetic and accessories company Paris Presents from EagleTree Capital and its co-investors.
WHO: Founded in 1947, Paris Presents creates and distributes beauty products and personal care accessories to mass merchants, drug stores, specialty beauty stores, and online retailers. Its comprehensive portfolio includes brands that are eco-conscious and digitally savvy and provide strong beauty education. Its cosmetics accessories brands are Real Techniques, maker of the one brand in cosmetic sponges; EcoTools, cosmetics and bath accessories; Body Benefits by Body Image; and bath accessories as well as retailer brands.
Yellow Wood Partners is a Boston-based private investment firm that invests exclusively in the consumer industry in the middle market. The firm seeks to acquire branded consumer products that sell into a variety of consumer channels, including mass, drug, food, specialty, value, club, and e-commerce. Yellow Wood’s investment and operating strategy is based on utilizing the firm’s functional operating resources to help maximize brand performance by driving organic growth and increasing operating efficiencies while acquiring additional brands into a limited number of platform companies in its concentrated investment portfolio.
EagleTree Capital, formerly Wasserstein Partners, is a leading independent private equity and investment firm, focused primarily on leveraged buyout investments and related investment activities. EagleTree manages capital on behalf of institutional and individual investors primarily in the media and business services, consumer products, and water and industrial sectors.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Dana Schmaltz, Founding Partner of Yellow Wood Partners, said, “This transformational acquisition creates an industry leading beauty platform focused in two of the fastest growing segments in the personal care and beauty segments. Paris Presents’ superior quality branded beauty accessory products dovetail well with Freeman Beauty’s industry leading face masks as both companies share the same Millennial, Gen Z, and Multicultural consumers. The combined organization will enhance the strong partnerships that both Paris Presents and Freeman have with their retail and ecommerce partners leading to future growth. The Yellow Wood team is very much looking forward to working with Patrick O’Brien and Bill George and the entire combined management of these businesses to continue to grow this platform organically as well as by adding additional brands to the platform.”
Patrick O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Paris Presents, said, “For over 70 years Paris Presents has been utilizing consumer insights, innovative product development, and supply chain expertise to develop winning consumer focused products. While we have enjoyed considerable growth and success over the past years with EagleTree Capital, partnering with Yellow Wood provides us with access to additional resources and an increased level of industry and operating expertise to build on our success and accelerate our business priorities as an innovative market leader.”
Bill George, Chief Executive Officer of Freeman Beauty, commented, “We are committed to growing Freeman and Yellow Wood’s extensive experience in building branded consumer companies is helping tremendously as we enhance our partnership with them to build another global leader in the beauty and personal care category.”
George Majoros, Co-Managing Partner of EagleTree Capital, said, “We and our co-investors have been delighted to work with Patrick O’Brien and the entire Paris Presents management team over the last several years. We’re very pleased with the strong growth the company has achieved under our ownership, and are confident Paris will continue its strong international and domestic growth under Yellow Wood’s leadership.”
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