www.lornamead.com

Sales: $711 million

Key Personnel:

Mike Jatania, chief executive officer; Jon Osborne, chief operating officer; Aart Weijburg, non-executive director; Charles Hinkaty, non-executive director; Philip Smith, non-executive director.

Major Products:

Hair care—Aqua Net, Brisk, Bristows, Crisan, Finesse, Harmony, Lice Shield; Cosmetics and skin care—CCS Footcare, CD, Cidal, Handsan, Harmony Indulgence, Lanosan, Lypsyl, Simple, Triple Dry, Witch skincare, Wright’s; Bath luxuries and fragrance—Woods of Windsor, Yardley of London; Oral care—Brilliant, Natural White, Rapid White, Clinomyn; Home care—Stergene.

New Products:

Finesse Clean + Simple, AquaNet Silver Beauty, Yardley Royal English Daisy, Yardley Citrus & Wood For Men, CD Q-10 Shower Gel, CD Natural Dry Cotton Extract Deodorants, Crisan Anti-Hair-Loss System, Handsan Natural Lavender Liquid Soap, Vosene Activating Hair Tonic, Vosene Kids Mega Hold Styling Gel and Extra Shine Detangler Spray, Witch Anti-Blemish Cosmetics, Harmony Indulgence Hair Care, Rapid White Triple Action Whitening Booster Gel.

Comments:

Lornamead bulked up its personal care portfolio this year with a variety of licensing and acquisition deals. In June, it obtained the license of the Simple brand for bar soaps from Unilever in the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands and has acquired the bar soap brands Wright’s and Cidal. The license and acquisition agreements follow the UK Office of Fair Trading’s concerns relating to Unilever’s acquisition of Alberto Culver in the UK bar soaps category.

This agreement is a strategic move for Lornamead in a key category, making it one of the top three bar soap providers in the UK. With an existing market share of 7.7%, the Simple soap bars will form part of the company’s strong portfolio of bar soaps in the UK, Europe and America.

With more than 150 years’ heritage, Wright’s is known for its antiseptic properties and traditional coal tar fragrance while Cidal is recognized as a natural antibacterial bar soap. Lornamead has acquired the assets, rights and inventory to all Wrights and Cidal products globally.

Mike Jatania, chief executive officer of Lornamead, commented,“This agreement is a strategic move for us in a key category where we already have a strong presence and a proven track record of driving market share. From a European perspective, Lornamead is already a major player in this category and within America our Yardley brands grows at an impressive rate. By bringing these brands into our portfolio, we can apply our specialist knowledge and success in branded bar soaps in order to continue to drive market share in this category. In addition to this latest agreement, we continue to actively look for other brand acquisitions.”

The announcement of these acquisitions and the perpetual license agreement shortly followed the company’s acquisition of Witch in April 2011 from E.C. DeWitt & Company Limited. The purchase followed Lornamead’s possession of the global license for the brand since April 2009. While under the license of Lornamead, the brand has achieved a unique position in the medicated skin care category with the launch of the only naturally inspired anti-blemish cosmetics range in January 2011. Witch is distributed through multiple retailers in the UK, including Boots, Superdrug, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Lornamead has acquired the assets, rights and inventory to all Witch products globally.