Advent International has closed its acquisition of Olaplex, a professional haircare brand.

Olaplex’s products – which include shampoos, conditioners, and specialty oils – are used to protect, strengthen and rebuild broken bonds in hair caused by damage from chemical, thermal, and mechanical processes. Olaplex sells its products through both professional and retail channels. Within the hair care industry, Olaplex has a large social media presence and its products are used by more than one million people worldwide. The company was founded in 2014 by beauty industry veterans Dean and Darcy Christal.

“Damaged hair is a universal problem. Having grown up in the beauty business, I was inspired to disrupt the hair care industry by developing a technology that protects hair from damage,” said Dean Christal. “With Advent’s shared vision and deep experience in supporting high-growth businesses, we look forward to enhancing our company’s strong customer loyalty globally and across channels and realizing our ambitious growth plan.”

“Olaplex has differentiated itself by offering superior products backed by patents,” said Tricia Glynn, a managing director at Advent. “It is rare that we see brands of this size growing so rapidly and with such a passionate consumer base. We believe the company has a significant runway for growth by increasing its brand awareness globally, broadening its product line of innovative ‘hero’ products, and further developing its ability to speak and sell to consumers directly.”

Advent International invests in companies active in business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology, media and telecom. The firm has 15 offices in 12 countries and employs 195 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Boston, Advent has $54 billion in assets under management and has completed more than 345 private equity transactions.

“I’m proud of the success Olaplex has achieved to date,” said Tiffany Walden, chief operating officer of Olaplex. “We are excited to work with Advent to build on our foundation and continue to provide our customers with the highest quality products.”

MidCap Financial was the Administrative Agent, Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner for a $500 million senior secured credit facility that supported Advent’s acquisition of Olaplex. MidCap’s deal team was led by Managing Director Rodney Craig. MidCap Financial, in alliance with its investment manager Apollo Capital Management, is a middle-market focused finance firm that provides debt instruments of $10 million to $750 million to companies across all industries.

Joining MidCap on the senior debt was Benefit Street Partners, as Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner, Oaktree Capital Management and BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors.

© 2020 Private Equity Professional | January 21, 2020

  FS, professional haircare brand