Beiersdorf has expanded its eCommerce presence in China
through a strategic partnership with NetEase Kaola. The Kaola
alliance opens access to more than 900 million users for the company’s
Nivea brand. On May 14, executives met at Hamburg City
Hall to seal the deal. Pictured (left to right): back row: Sun Congbin,
Chinese Consul General; First Mayor Dr. Peter Tschentscher
and Ralph Gusko, Beiersdorf Board Member for Asia & Brands
Asia and Consumer Brands; front row: Zhang Lei, CEO NetEase
Kaola and Sigmar Werz, Head of Global E-Commerce. Beiersdorf
has previous agreements with Chinese websites JD.com and
July 2018 Spray 41
Mergers & Acquistions
Specialty waste company Clean Earth, Inc., recycler of aerosol
products among other materials, has expanded with the purchase of
ESMI Cos., a maker of thermal desorption technology to remediate,
recycle and reuse contaminated and uncontaminated materials such
as soil, stone, paper mill sludge and more. ESMI Cos.’ locations in
Fort Edward, NY and Loudon, NH, will help Clean Earth to provide
these solutions to customers in New York and New England. Over
the course of 25 years, ESMI has diverted more than 6.5 million
tons of material from landfills.
L’Oréal has acquired Pulp Riot, a Los Angeles-based professional
hair color brand launched by David and Alexis Thurston in 2016.
Active on social media, Pulp Riot has amassed over 675,000 Instagram
followers, and had net sales of $11 million in 2017. David
Thurston will continue to serve as CEO of Pulp Riot.
In other news, L’Oréal and Maison Valentino have formed a
worldwide license agreement for fine fragrances and luxury beauty,
set to go into effect in January 2019. Founded in 1960 in Rome,
Maison Valentino offers fragrance brands such as Valentino Donna,
Valentino Uomo and Valentina.
Givaudan Inc. has completed the acquisition of Expressions Parfumées,
a 250-year-old French fragrance creation house and manufacturer
of the NATCO brands of perfumes and natural fragrance
compounds. The negotiations began in December 2017 with the
management of shareholder Orfite and Expressions Parfumées.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In other news, Givaudan has acquired 40.5% of the shares in Naturex
for €522 million ($614.8 million) and intends to launch a cash
tender offer for the remaining outstanding shares at €135 ($159) per
share.
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has entered into an agreement
to acquire Frutarom in a transaction valued at approximately
$7.1 billion.
New York City-based Inter Parfums, Inc. and London-based jewelry
and gemstone firm Graff Diamonds have signed an exclusive, worldwide
fragrance licensing agreement to create, develop and distribute
fragrances under the Graff brand. The eight-year agreement has
three potential three-year renewal options, which could extend the
license until 2035.
Biesterfeld Spezialchemie GmbH has expanded its sales partnership
with Sytheon Ltd. from Spain to Germany, Russia and the
Benelux countries. This cooperative agreement will boost Biesterfeld’s
offerings of proprietary and patented active ingredients for
the cosmetics industry, including many naturally-derived ingredients.
TPG Capital has purchased a minority share in Rodan + Fields,
LLC. This is expected to help accelerate Rodan + Fields’ next
phase of growth. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Following
the transaction, TPG’s co-CEO/Co-Founder Jim Coulter
and Head of Capital Investments Paul Hackwell will join Rodan +
Fields’ Board of Directors.
Milliken & Co. and Oxiteno USA LLC have entered into a
co-manufacturing agreement to serve the U.S. chemical market,
specifically alkoxylation technology. The co-agreement complements
Alibaba.com.
Milliken’s alkoxylation assets in Inman, SC and draws
on Oxiteno’s upcoming alkoxylation unit in Pasadena, TX, with
access to the U.S. Gulf region and capacity of 170,000 metric tons
per year.
Azelis has formed a partnership with Sharon Laboratories in
India to offer preservative solutions for personal care ingredients
to India and expands on agreements already set in Australia and
the UK. Azelis recently opened a personal care application laboratory
in India.
Additionally, Azelis has acquired SammiChem Co., a leading
distributor in the personal care market in South Korea. Seoulbased
SammiChem specializes in personal care and has 17
employees. With this acquisition, Azelis will now operate in 12
countries in Asia Pacific region. Terms were not disclosed and the
deal is expected to close in the next few months.
Univar Inc. announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Univar
Ltd., has acquired Earthoil Plantations Ltd., formerly a
subsidiary of London-based Treatt plc. Earthoil will become
part of Univar’s personal care business. Earthoil is a provider of
essential and vegetable oils and experienced sales of $11 million
in 2017.
Additionally, a personal care and home care applications
distribution agreement was established between Univar Inc.’s
subsidiary, Univar BV, and Colonial Chemical’s beauty, personal
care and household divisions. The agreement will expand
Univar’s surfactant and renewable ingredient portfolios.