Groupe Rocher has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Arbonne International. 

Groupe Rocher is a leader in direct selling of botanically based beauty, personal care and nutrition products. Arbonne offers a wide range of vegan skincare, bath and body, and nutrition and makeup products -- and will benefit from the resources and expertise offered by Groupe Rocher's resources and strong network of supplier partners. 

Bris Rocher, CEO of Groupe Rocher, stated: "This acquisition will be a real asset that will enable us to strengthen our positioning in the direct selling channel, which has seen an upturn over the past few years. We also have a heritage of providing employment opportunities —dating back to my grandfather, our founder, Yves Rocher, who cared deeply about providing employment since he started his business. This, combined with our direct selling know-how, should foster company growth and longevity."

Kay Zanotti, CEO of Arbonne, adds,: "We share with Groupe Rocher commitments to pure, botanically based products and sustainability, as well as a long-term business vision that is grounded in family values. We are particularly pleased with Groupe Rocher's keen appreciation of the many benefits of the direct selling model in providing flexible income opportunities, and a positive community of professional growth for individuals."

Arbonne International's holding company, Natural Products Group (NPG), is headquartered in Irvine, California. NPG also owns the personal care brand Nature's Gate, which is also part of this acquisition.

More About Arbonne

Arbonne is a global business with a production site and four integrated distribution sites. The company's sales revenue is in excess of 550 million dollars (450 million euros).

Arbonne was founded in Switzerland in 1975, and brought to the U.S. in 1980. Founder Petter Mørck's mission was to develop botanically based skincare, cosmetics and nutrition products that are better for both consumers and the planet.

Today, approximately 800 employees and over 250,000 active independent consultants contribute to the success of the Arbonne brand whose botanically based, vegan, gluten- and GMO-free products are sold in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Poland.

Photo: Some of Arbonne's skincare products.