Tengram Capital Partners has sold HRB Brands to Sodalis Group, an Italy-based beauty and personal care platform.
HRB Brands is one of the largest independent branded personal care companies in North America. The company’s brands include Alberto VO5, Zest, Coast, Brut, Pert, Sure, Rave, and Thicker Fuller Hair. HRB Brands outsources the manufacturing of its products to a network of contractors based in both the United States and Mexico.
In April 2020, Tengram acquired HRB Brands, the hair care and skin cleansing business of High Ridge Brands, then a portfolio company of CD&R. Under Tengram ownership, HRB Brands completed four add-on acquisitions including the June 2021 buy of personal care brands Brut, Pert, Sure, Ammens, Seabreeze and Infusium from publicly traded Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE). With the close of this transaction, High Ridge rebranded the company as HRB Brands (Healthy Responsible Beauty Brands). In December 2023, HRB Brands acquired Pipette, a mother and baby skin care brand, for $1.75 million from Amyris.
Today, HRB Brands, led by CEO Jim Daniels, has 68 employees, $220 million in annual revenue, and is headquartered near Stamford in Westport, Connecticut.
“I would like to thank Bill and the Tengram/Windsong team who have been a tremendous partner to HRB and instrumental in developing and executing our organic and acquisition growth strategies,” said Mr. Daniels. “Becoming part of the Sodalis Group provides a very exciting new chapter for us. Our combined teams are already working well together to leverage each other’s talents and brand portfolios to rapidly grow our combined European, North and Latin America businesses. We are excited to channel our experience to set a new path within the Sodalis galaxy towards ever more ambitious goals.”
Sodalis is a family-owned, multi-brand and multi-channel organization – pharmacies, mass distribution, e-commerce, and perfumeries – with over 20 cosmetic and nutraceutical consumer brands. The company is highly acquisitive and has purchased more than 20 companies since its founding in 1990. Sodalis, with annual revenues of more than $915 million (€840 million) is headquartered near Milan in Lodi, Italy, and has 5 international branches with offices in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain, 5 research laboratories and 5 production sites, located in Italy, France and Germany.
“With this acquisition, what seemed like a crazy dream becomes reality: Sodalis enters the American market with a direct affiliate,” said Fabio Granata, the CEO of Sodalis. “It is a great transformation for our company, born in a small Italian province, now expanding to the United States market. We believe in an important growth plan for Sodalis USA both for the evolution of the current business and as a great platform to launch our European power brands in North America and South America and to complete new acquisitions.”
“HRB represents the culmination of four years of effort and is emblematic of a classic deal profile: great management supported by our own in-house expertise enabled by nimble capital and expert M&A. We are very grateful for the opportunity to work with Jim and his team through a challenging COVID restructuring and subsequent accelerated growth,” said William Sweedler, a co-founder and managing partner at Tengram. “After tremendous effort over four years, we are pleased to deliver outsized returns to our loyal investors. We wish Jim and the Sodalis Group every success and fully expect them to take HRB to a new level of performance.”
High Ridge Brands has an extensive history of private equity ownership and acquisitions. The company was formed by Brynwood Partners in December 2010 to acquire the North American Zest personal cleansing brand from Procter & Gamble, serving as a platform for further acquisitions in the personal care sector. During Brynwood’s ownership, High Ridge made five notable acquisitions, including Alberto VO5 (U.S. and Puerto Rico) and Rave (global) from Unilever in August 2011, the Coast brand from Henkel in April 2012, White Rain from Sun Products in July 2012, smaller personal care brands from Newhall Laboratories in May 2015, and Continental Fragrances in October 2015.
In June 2016, Brynwood sold High Ridge Brands to CD&R. Later that year, High Ridge acquired Dr. Fresh, a California-based oral care company with brands such as REACH, Firefly, and Binaca, from NexPhase Capital. However, in December 2019, High Ridge filed for bankruptcy after a failed pre-bankruptcy sales process.
By April 2020, High Ridge sold its hair care and skin cleansing business, including Zest, Alberto VO5, Coast, White Rain, and Rave, to Tengram Capital Partners. The oral care segment, including REACH, Firefly, and Dr. Fresh, was sold separately to Perrigo (NYSE: PRGO).
Tengram invests in companies in the branded consumer products and retail sectors. The firm has offices in Westport, Connecticut, and New York City.
Lincoln International and Cascadia Capital are the financial advisors to HRB, and PWC is the financial advisor to Sodalis Group.
© 2024 Private Equity Professional | October 11, 2024
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