Alticor buys Laura Mercier

Alticor has bought Gurwitch Products, the luxury cosmetics and skin care company that manufactures and markets the Laura Mercier brand, from the Neiman Marcus Group.

The deal coincides with the tenth anniversary of Gurwitch's partnership with Laura Mercier, a well known make-up artist. The brand is retailed in a number of departments stores such as Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman as well as speciality retailers like Space.NK. As such, the acquisition takes Alticor, parent company of direct sales giant Amway, into an entirely new area of the C&T market. Its chairman Steve Van Andel is confident that it will benefit both parties.

“We look forward to pooling their extensive knowledge of the worldwide industry with our global connectivity, manufacturing expertise and our companies' integrated R&D capabilities to support the growth of both the Laura Mercier product line and our own skin care and cosmetic offerings.”

Under the terms of the deal, Gurwitch will operate as a stand-alone, wholly owned subsidiary of Alticor and maintain its current retail distribution.