Helen of Troy buys up Ogilvie hair care brand

By Simon Pitman

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Care products Marketing

Helen of Troy has bought the worldwide rights to the Ogilvie permanent and straightening brand hair care products from Ascendia Brands.

The product line, which is marketed as a salon quality product that can also be used at home, taps into the growing market for high quality hair care treatments that match the standards for professional hair care.

Company CEO Gerald Rubin pointed out that Ogilvie is already the leading brand in its category, highlighting the fact that it maintains a loyal core consumer base, attracted by the fact that the products can be used at home.

Joining the Idelle division

“We believe that we will be able to integrate Ogilvie into our Idelle division of skin and hair care products in a timely manner,”​ said Rubin.

We believe that Ogilvie will generate approximately $10m in sales on an annualized basis and expect the acquisition to be accretive during our further quarter ending February 28, 2009.”

The company says that it will add the brand into its worldwide distribution network, a move that also aims to help expand the brand into new markets, as well as building on existing distribution networks.

Acquisition comes despite poor result

Helen of Troy, which is a designer, developer and worldwide marketer of brand-name personal care products, is making the acquisition against a backdrop of falling sales and profits, particularly for its personal care division.

The company recently announced that overall sales for the quarter were down from $157.92m for the same period last year to $153.54m, a fall of 2.8 percent, while personal care sales fell by 10.2 percent to reach $106.40m.

Profits for the second quarter were down significantly on last year, falling from $18.25m in 2007 to $10.60m, representing a decrease of 42 percent.

'Distorted' results

Although the underlying trend is down, the company did point out that the introduction of the Bed Head line for the corresponding quarter in 2007 had distorted the figures, while an $8m tax settlement had distorted profits.

However, the company has said that it wants to continue making value-adding acquisitions in the key niches that it serves.

Helen Of Troy has established itself as one of the leading distributors of salon and personal care products in the North American market. The company has a comprehensive portfolio that includes a range of hair accessories, hair care and hair styling products, as well as body powder and skin care products, sold under licensed trade marks that include Vidal Sassoon, Revlon and Sunbeam.

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