Glansaol, the "strategic start-up" founded by former Revlon chief executive officer Alan Ennis in 2016, is said to have hired Financo to explore strategic alternatives.
Sources with knowledge of the situation said the company is considering several potential options, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures or other partnerships, and that Glansaol has been approached by potential suitors. Industry sources said the business has between $100 million and $125 million in retail sales.
Glansaol owns makeup brand Laura Geller, skin-care brand Clark's Botanicals and makeup and skin-care brand Julep. It acquired all three in 2016 as part of Ennis' plan to build a multibrand prestige beauty business with IPO potential. The business is backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus.
“I said, ‘I want to build a company,’ said, ‘Great, here’s a pot of money, let’s go build it,’” Ennis said, after Glansaol made its first acquisitions. Warburg declined to comment.
Julep and Clark's Botanicals are said to be growing, but sources indicated Laura Geller has struggled recently, though they noted the business has innovative products in the pipeline that haven't hit the market yet.
In April, Nancy Bernardini, who had been leading Shiseido's Zotos International business, stepped in as ceo of the business, and Ennis shifted to chairman. Sources said Glansaol has also recently hired a chief operating officer, as well as a marketing vice president at Julep and sales vice president for Laura Geller.
Back when Glansaol, which means "pure life" in Gaelic, was founded, the plan was to buy more companies to build a competitor to existing beauty players. Founders and leaders of the acquired companies would invest in the parent company as part of the deal — but Glansaol has not made more acquisitions since its initial three. Glansaol is Warburg's first beauty investment.
Glansaol is hitting the market at a time when beauty assets of scale are few and far between — most have already been acquired or found investors. Earlier this year, Anastasia Beverly Hills, one of the largest companies up for grabs in a while, took an investment from TPG, which also invested in billion-dollar skin-care brand Rodan + Fields.
Other recent beauty deals include Procter & Gamble's acquisition of skin-care brand First Aid Beauty and Eurazeo's investment in Pat McGrath Labs.
For more from WWD.com, see:
European Beauty M&A Activity Heats Up
Beauty Continues to Make a Mark in M&A as Brands Gear Up for IPOs
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