Castanea Partners has signed an agreement to sell Urban Decay, a women’s cosmetics company, to L’Oréal.
Urban Decay is a women’s cosmetics company with products that emphasize femininity and irreverence. The company markets its products through domestic and international specialty beauty retailers, department stores, and its website. The company is based in Newport Beach, CA (www.urbandecay.com).
“The entire Urban Decay team has done a great job of rapidly growing the company while remaining true to their brand and its values. We very much enjoyed working with the Urban Decay team and are confident they will thrive with their new partners.” said Steve Berg, Partner from Castanea.
Urban Decay was founded in 1996 by Wende Zomnir and was bought by Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2000, before being sold again in 2002 to the Falic Group. In 2009 it was acquired by Castanea Partners. Urban Decay had revenues of $140 million over the past 12 months, more than three times its revenue at the time of Castanea’s investment in 2009.
“Castanea has been a great partner for Urban Decay as they truly understand who we are and appreciate what it takes to grow a successful brand, said Ms. Zomnir, Chief Creative Officer.
Castanea Partners invests from $15 million to $75 million in small and middle market companies in publishing, education, training, consumer brands, specialty retail, and marketing services. Castanea participates in leveraged buyouts, growth and acquisition equity investments, and operationally challenging situations. The firm is currently investing from its third fund, a $500 million fund that targets companies with enterprise values up to $250 million. The firm is located in Newton, MA (www.castaneapartners.com).
“Castanea was incredibly supportive of our team and encouraged us to invest in our vision of becoming one of the top cosmetics brands in the world,” said Urban Decay CEO Tim Warner
L’Oréal is one of the world’s leading beauty companies. The company has built a portfolio of 27 international, diverse and complementary brands. With sales amounting to 20.3 billion euros in 2011, L’Oréal employs 68,900 people worldwide. The company is based in Paris, France (www.loreal.com).
Castanea Partners was advised by Deutsche Bank, Piper Jaffray, and Deloitte. L’Oréal was advised by Lazard and Weil, Gotshal and Manges.
© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-26-12