Tengram Capital Partners has agreed to acquire luxury skincare brand RéVive from Shiseido Americas Corporation. RéVive was acquired by Shiseido Americas as part of its 2016 acquisition of Gurwtich Products from Alticor. Closing is expected to be completed by the end of November.
RéVive is a luxury skincare line developed by Dr. Gregory Bays Brown, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Launched in 1997, RéVive is distributed domestically at luxury retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, Barney’s, Blue Mercury and Cos Bar and at other retailers in Canada, the UK, Europe and Asia (www.reviveskincare.com).
The new company will be led by Elana Drell Szyfer, the ex-CEO of Laura Geller New York, a cosmetics brand and a former portfolio company of Tengram, which the firm sold in 2016. Ms. Drell Szyfer joined Laura Geller in 2014 from Kenneth Cole where she was EVP of Global Brand Strategy. She has over two decades of experience in the beauty industry having worked at Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, and Avon. At Estee Lauder, she held the role of Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for the Estee Lauder brand, and prior to that, Vice President of Global Marketing for Prescriptives. She then spent three years at AHAVA Dead Sea Laboratories (a cosmetics company), where she was Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Drell Szyfer is currently an Operating Advisor with Tengram.
Ms. Drell Szyfer will be joined at RéVive by John Elmer who will become the brand’s new CFO and COO (Mr. Elmer served in this same role at Laura Geller) and Mary Rodrigues, an experienced beauty industry executive, will be the SVP of Marketing and E-commerce.
“We are delighted to add RéVive to our strong and growing portfolio of beauty brands,” said Richard Gersten, a Partner at Tengram Capital. “As an investor in consumer brands with a deep knowledge in beauty, I have watched RéVive for a long time. We believe it is a gem, thanks to Founder Dr. Gregory Bays Brown, its exceptional products based on Nobel prize-winning technologies, a loyal consumer following, and its impressive distribution. The RéVive brand has strong growth prospects, and we look forward to investing in key areas to enable the brand to thrive.”
Tengram invests in companies in the branded consumer products and retail sectors. Specific areas of interest include apparel, sporting goods, consumer electronics, home furnishings, health & beauty, spirits, and food & beverages. Tengram’s current beauty portfolio includes Nest Fragrances, Algenist, specialty beauty retailer Cos Bar, and natural beauty brand This Works. The firm was founded in 2010 and is based in Westport, CT (www.tengramcapital.com).
“RéVive has always been known for the quality and efficacy of its products. Its performance and positioning is well poised to appeal to a discerning skincare consumer domestically and internationally via both current and new channels of distribution,” said Ms. Drell Szyfer. “Finding a brand like RéVive is rare – we are extremely excited about the opportunity to partner with the existing team, partners and of course, Dr. Brown.”
As part of the purchase agreement, Shiseido Americas will continue to provide supply chain, distribution and other support services during the transition. “RéVive is a wonderful skincare brand. We are confident it will be well supported by Tengram while Shiseido focuses on continuing growth across our strategic portfolio of brands and businesses,” said Marc Rey, President and CEO of Shiseido Americas.
Shiseido Americas is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Shiseido Company (TSE:4911), a global beauty company which brands include Shiseido, NARS, Clé de Peau Beauté, bareMinerals, Laura Mercier and several fragrance brands including Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez and Dolce & Gabbana. Shiseido Americas is headquartered in New York (www.shiseido.com).
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | November 13, 2017
