Helen of Troy, the owner of Revlon and Drybar, has added premium hair care brand Curlsmith to its portfolio.
With a price tag of US$150m and net sales expected to reach between $40 and $42m for 2022, it becomes the beauty maker’s highest earning business.
Founded in 2017, Curlsmith’s products are aimed at women with curly and wavy hair, and includes a range of shampoos, conditioners and co-washes, created with trichologists and stylists.
Product prices range from $12-$189.
“We believe Curlsmith is an excellent fit with Helen of Troy, both strategically and financially,” said Julien Mininberg, Helen of Troy’s CEO.
“This transaction advances Helen of Troy’s strategy to invest in businesses that can accelerate growth in categories where we can add value and leverage our scalable operating platform.
“Curlsmith expands our platform in prestige beauty to capitalise on the fast-growing textured hair market.”
The acquisition will also give Helen of Troy a window in the fast-growing textured hair care market, with some 60% of US consumers having curly or textured hair, according to Mininberg.
“Prestige textured hair care products are growing ten times faster than products for non-textured hair, and twice as fast as mass market textured hair products,” he added.
“The business more than doubled in size between calendar years 2020 and 2021 and we expect it to continue to grow at a healthy double-digit rate.”
The acquisition marks Helen of Troy’s third transaction as part of its Phase II strategy, whereby it takes on fast-growing disruptor brands.
“We see excellent upside potential for Curlsmith, and we expect to add significant value to it by capitalising on our expertise in beauty and our shared services platform,” continued Mininberg.
Curlsmith’s founder and CEO, Michal Berski, said that Helen of Troy’s reputation for spotting indie brands “and turbo charging them” made the buyout a “strategic fit”.
“As a marketing-leading textured hair care brand, Curlsmith both complements and brings a new dimension to their already enviable prestige hair care portfolio.”