Method Sold To Ecover

Method Sold To Ecover

(L-R) Method co-founder Adam Lowry, Ecover CEO Philip Malmberg, Method CEO Drew Fraser, and Method co-founder Eric Ryan.

• Private equity firm San Francisco Equity Partners has sold Method to Europe-based Ecover. The transaction is said to create the world’s largest green cleaning company, with global distribution and unmatched capabilities in green product development, innovation and manufacturing. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Collectively, the firms will deliver sales of $200 million and employ around 300, according to Ecover, which said it and Method will continue as separate brands with a “shared ambition to bring as many new consumers as possible into the green cleaning and personal care market.”

There will be “a combined approach towards innovation and R&D, an aspect that both companies feel hugely passionate about as it underpins the very foundations of their brands,” according to Ecover.

“With the acquisition of Method, we are acquiring much more than just a brand,” said Ecover CEO Philip Malmberg. “This is the start of a fantastic, long-term partnership with a company that has a track record for innovation, an unwavering commitment to green products and a professional team with a real passion for what they do. The merger of these two businesses provides us with a strategic position in the US market—the largest and fastest growing market in the green cleaning category—and Method with a European partner with an unrivalled heritage, robust environmental credentials and ecological manufacturing facilities.”

Method was ranked No. 49 in Happi’s 2012 Top 50 Report, with estimated sales of $112 million. Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry founded the firm in 2000.

“This transition marks a new chapter in the evolution of our business,” said Ryan.

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LuroMed LLC Taps Lipo To Handle HA Complexes
• LuroMed, LLC has appointed Lipo, a Vantage Specialty Chemical’s global personal care business, as worldwide distributor of the Biopolymer line of personal care products. The Biopolymer line of products, formerly marketed as Biocare Polymers, is a line of hyaluronic acid complexes that provide improved hydration and substantivity, in personal care formulations.

This representation expands the current LuroMed and Lipo relationship beyond their current partnership in the production and marketing of Hylasome EG-10.

LuroMed, LLC develops and commercializes proprietary polymer technology for use in topical skin care and in medical applications. LuroMed LLC has licensed their technology for various HA-based products from Genzyme Corporation. The license includes unique HA-polymer complexes used in personal care applications. LuroMed also develops and produces its own HA ingredients.

Lipo is headquartered in Paterson, NJ and has offices in 12 countries, as well as a distribution network covering five continents and over 60 countries.

More info: www.lipochemicals.com

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Nuvilex To Enter Cosmetics Industry
• Nuvilex, Inc., an international biotechnology provider of cell and gene therapy solutions, announced today its wholly-owned subsidiary, Austrianova Singapore Pte Ltd (ASPL) has received notice that the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) has assigned the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient (INCI) name Gel8 (pronounced gelate), to the company’s proprietary cell encapsulation materials.

The PCPC determined, through the International Nomenclature Committee, to provide the Gel8 name assignment to ASPL. As a result, Gel8 will now be included as a new product in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary & Handbook as well as in the next update of the cosmetic industry’s International Buyer’s Guide. The combined Dictionary/Handbook contains more than 19,100 INCI labeling names for the US, European Union, Japan and other countries. There are many aspects of cosmetics safety and labeling overseen by the FDA and other regulatory bodies around the world.

Receiving the INCI designation allows for greater potential use in cosmetics throughout the US and the world.

According to Dr. John Dangerfield, chief operating officer of ASPL, “holding the INCI name is necessary for product safety and visibility as well as a significant step forward for using the Cell-in-a-Box and Bac-in-a-Box technology throughout the cosmetics industry. We see applications of the technology that expand from the cancer field well into other areas of medicine, cosmetics, and nutrition, among others, and see this designation as one of the first important steps.”

Nuvilex, Inc. is an international biotechnology provider of live therapeutically valuable, encapsulated cells and services for research and medicine. The company’s clinical offerings will include cancer, diabetes and other treatments using the company’s cell and gene therapy expertise and live-cell encapsulation technology.

More info: www.nuvilex.com

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Wacker Taps NRC For Biotech Products Europe
• Wacker has tapped Nordmann, Rassmann (NRC) to handle distribution of certain products for personal care applications in most parts of Europe, effective Sept. 1. For applications in personal care and cosmetics, NRC will from now on distribute Wacker’s biotechnically manufactured cyclodextrins as well as vegetarian grade cysteine and cysteine in most parts of West and Eastern Europe. NRC already distributes select Wacker products for other segments including silicones for coatings and pharma industries.

More info: www.wacker.com

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Yellow Wood Acquires Parfums de Coeur
• Yellow Wood Partners has acquired Parfums de Coeur (PDC), a provider of mass-market fragrances sold in the US including Body Fantasies, Designer Imposters, and BOD Man. In addition, the company’s brands are sold in a growing number of important international markets. Yellow Wood acquired PDC in partnership with the company’s management team, which also invested equity into the business.

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ICMAD Moves To New Headquarters
• The Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors (ICMAD) has moved to 21925 Field Parkway, Suite 205, Deer Park, IL 60010; 800-334-2623; Email: [email protected].

More info: www.icmad.org

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WFFC Honors Galvin of Parlux At Open Dinner
• At its 30th anniversary open dinner on September 20, WFFC honored Kathleen Galvin, VP of marketing and creative, Parlux Fragrances.

Galvin has led the successful development and launch of many celebrity and designer fragrances, such as Paris Hilton, Vince Camuto, Jessica Simpson, Marc Ecko, Queen Latifah, Rihanna, Natori and Nicole Miller. She began her career in the cosmetics and fragrance industry at Helena Rubinstein in 1975.

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Coppertone Named in Lawsuit
• Three plaintiffs have argued in their New Jersey federal complaint that Coppertone’s sunscreen products fail to protect against the cancer causing longer rays of ultraviolet-A radiation despite its “full defense” claim. Calling the products “sunblock” and claiming they were waterproof, sweatproof, and would provide all-day protection was also misleading because the protection diminished over time and after exposure to water and sweat, the plaintiffs alleged.

According to the complaint, “[T]he level or degree of UVA protection, to the extent provided, was significantly less than the level of protection provided against the burning effect of UVB rays and [no] protection was being provided against the longer UVA rays. . . [T]hese products did not block all or anywhere close to all of the sun’s harmful rays.”

All three plaintiffs relied upon the sunscreen’s labeling and advertising, they alleged, seeking trebled damages, restitution, and injunctive relief from Merck, which they said reaped “enormous profits” from Coppertone products.

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SkinMedica, Mass General Hospital Form Accord
• SkinMedica will collaborate with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for the research and development of pigmentation products, the Carlsbad, CA company announced. The exclusive agreement involves screening and evaluating a library of roughly 40,000 natural extracts made available by the National Cancer Institute for potential applications in pigmentation.

The principal investigator for this collaborative effort is Dr. David Fisher, chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Dermatology, director of the MGH Cutaneous Biology Research Center and Director of the Melanoma Center at MGH. He is also the Edward Wigglesworth Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and past president of the Society for Melanoma Research.

Mary Fisher, CEO of SkinMedica. said Dr. Fisher’s “expertise in pigment and the skin’s environmental responses will be invaluable as we together to pursue novel approaches for patients with a variety of pigment related concerns.”

More info: www.skinmedica.com

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P&G Brings Relief To Hurricane Victims
• Procter & Gamble has provided services to families and individuals in need of showers, restrooms and personal care items as well as laundry and temporary power use in the wake of Hurricane Isaac. The P&G Relief Center was stationed in LaPlace, LA along with P&G’s Tide Loads of Hope truck, which provided laundry service to relief workers and residents.