After two years of looking for a buyer, Unilever received a binding offer from Yellow Wood Partners to acquire the Elida Beauty group, which generated a turnover of around €800 million ($1.02 billion) in revenue in 2022.
WHO: Unilever formed Elida Beauty in 2021, which includes Q-Tips, Caress, TIGI, Timotei, Monsavon, St. Ives, Zwitsal, Ponds, Brut, Moussel, Alberto Balsam, and Matey.
Yellow Wood Partners is a Boston-based private investment firm that invests exclusively in the consumer industry in the middle market. Yellow Wood’s Consumer Operating DNA investment and operating strategy is based on utilizing the firm’s functional operating resources to help maximize brand performance by driving organic growth to increase operating efficiencies.
WHY: The divestment is the first significant move by Hein Schumacher, who took the helm of Unilever as CEO in July, with a focus on streamlining the business. In 2022, Unilever announced it would streamline the company to focus the portfolio on higher-growth categories. It removed 50,000 SKUs from its Personal Care division and delisted more than 60 local brands.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Fabian Garcia, President of Unilever Personal Care, said, “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 said, “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.”
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