05.09.23
Yellow Wood Partners LLC, a Boston-based private equity firm, has completed the previously announced acquisition of the beauty and personal care brand, Suave, in North America from Unilever.
The Suave brand sells beauty & personal care products for women, men and kids across mass retailers, grocery stores, drug retailers, and ecommerce platforms. The brand’s products include hair care and body care products including shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, body wash, antiperspirants and deodorants and skin care.
With the completion of the transaction, Yellow Wood Partners is creating the Suave Brands Company (SBC), a newly formed stand-alone business created to support the Suave brand under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Daniel Alter, a 20-year Unilever veteran with global strategy and operations expertise. The company will be headquartered in New Jersey.
Dana Schmaltz, Partner of Yellow Wood Partners, said, “Our firm’s extensive experience working with multi-national branded consumer packaged goods companies, such as Unilever, Bayer and Reckitt, will enable us to successfully transition Suave to an independent company within the Yellow Wood portfolio and accelerate its growth.”
Schmaltz continued, “Our deep expertise in the consumer goods sector and with large mass, grocery, drug, and ecommerce retailers will help us enhance Suave’s closeness with consumers and product innovation.”
In addition to carving out Suave and establishing an independent infrastructure, Yellow Wood Partners is building the Suave Brands Company into a beauty & personal care platform focused on democratizing trends, making them accessible to a broader consumer base. To deliver on this goal, the Suave Brands Company will acquire beauty & personal care brands across multiple categories, including hair, skin, body, and more, that will drive synergies across the platform.
Tad Yanagi, Partner of Yellow Wood Partners, commented, “We are excited about Suave’s ability to benefit from the growing consumer demand for value-based brands. There is great opportunity to do more with Suave’s leading brand awareness and consumer loyalty and to lead that effort we are pleased to welcome Daniel Alter as CEO. His and Yellow Wood’s deep branded CPG experiences will help Suave execute on new growth levers to build the business and identify new personal care brand acquisitions.”
“I am excited to partner with Yellow Wood to lead the Suave Brands company and set the brand up for its next stage of growth,” Alter said. “Our shared vision is to build the Suave Brands Company into an industry leading beauty & personal care platform, delivering high quality products at an accessible price for consumers across North America.”
In addition to Suave, Yellow Wood’s diverse portfolio of consumer brands includes global footcare brand Dr. Scholl’s and Scholl International; Beacon Wellness Brands, led by its anchor brand PlusOne; beauty brands Real Techniques and EcoTools; self-tanning brands Isle of Paradise, Tanologist and TanLuxe; and skincare brands Byoma and Freeman Beauty.
Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Yellow Wood on the transaction. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP provided legal counsel to Yellow Wood.
The Suave brand sells beauty & personal care products for women, men and kids across mass retailers, grocery stores, drug retailers, and ecommerce platforms. The brand’s products include hair care and body care products including shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, body wash, antiperspirants and deodorants and skin care.
With the completion of the transaction, Yellow Wood Partners is creating the Suave Brands Company (SBC), a newly formed stand-alone business created to support the Suave brand under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Daniel Alter, a 20-year Unilever veteran with global strategy and operations expertise. The company will be headquartered in New Jersey.
Transitioning Suave to an Independent Company
The Suave brand is widely known and has a long heritage and strong consumer loyalty, selling over 250 million units annually.Dana Schmaltz, Partner of Yellow Wood Partners, said, “Our firm’s extensive experience working with multi-national branded consumer packaged goods companies, such as Unilever, Bayer and Reckitt, will enable us to successfully transition Suave to an independent company within the Yellow Wood portfolio and accelerate its growth.”
Schmaltz continued, “Our deep expertise in the consumer goods sector and with large mass, grocery, drug, and ecommerce retailers will help us enhance Suave’s closeness with consumers and product innovation.”
In addition to carving out Suave and establishing an independent infrastructure, Yellow Wood Partners is building the Suave Brands Company into a beauty & personal care platform focused on democratizing trends, making them accessible to a broader consumer base. To deliver on this goal, the Suave Brands Company will acquire beauty & personal care brands across multiple categories, including hair, skin, body, and more, that will drive synergies across the platform.
Tad Yanagi, Partner of Yellow Wood Partners, commented, “We are excited about Suave’s ability to benefit from the growing consumer demand for value-based brands. There is great opportunity to do more with Suave’s leading brand awareness and consumer loyalty and to lead that effort we are pleased to welcome Daniel Alter as CEO. His and Yellow Wood’s deep branded CPG experiences will help Suave execute on new growth levers to build the business and identify new personal care brand acquisitions.”
Daniel Alter Named CEO of Suave Brands
Alter brings to Suave Brands Company 20 years of global strategy, brand development, and general management experience during his tenure in international operating roles across beauty & personal care with Unilever.“I am excited to partner with Yellow Wood to lead the Suave Brands company and set the brand up for its next stage of growth,” Alter said. “Our shared vision is to build the Suave Brands Company into an industry leading beauty & personal care platform, delivering high quality products at an accessible price for consumers across North America.”
In addition to Suave, Yellow Wood’s diverse portfolio of consumer brands includes global footcare brand Dr. Scholl’s and Scholl International; Beacon Wellness Brands, led by its anchor brand PlusOne; beauty brands Real Techniques and EcoTools; self-tanning brands Isle of Paradise, Tanologist and TanLuxe; and skincare brands Byoma and Freeman Beauty.
Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to Yellow Wood on the transaction. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP provided legal counsel to Yellow Wood.
