Henkel knocks Coty and Estée Lauder Companies off professional hair pedestal

Published: 2-Nov-2017

With the acquisition of Shiseido’s North American professional hair business, Henkel is now second to L’Oréal in this market


Henkel is now second only to L’Oréal in the professional hair care market in North America, data from market research company Kline suggests.

Last week, Henkel acquired Shiseido’s North American professional hair business for $485m, doubling its share in the region from 7.7% to 13.6%.

This figure puts it well ahead of Coty at 11.1% and Estée Lauder Companies at 8.1%.

Carrie Mellage, Vice President of Kline's Consumer Products Practice, said: “On the heels of Henkel's acquisitions of Pravana earlier this year and TSG brands not long ago, Henkel's activity is the most aggressive we've seen on the professional hair care M&A front in 15-20 years… the era when L'Oréal gobbled up Matrix, Redken, Softsheen, and Carson while P&G took hold of Clairol and Wella.”

She added: “Those moves landed L'Oréal and P&G with the #1 and #2 spots in North America, respectively, positions those businesses held until today.”

A competitive brand portfolio

P&G sold its salon hair care business to Coty in July 2015 including Wella, Clairol, Nioxin, Sassoon Professional and more.

Henkel has snapped up Shiseido’s Zotos International including Zotos Professional, AGEbeautiful and Joico, while it already owns Schwarzkopf, Syoss and Alterna Haircare.

Kline predicts that Henkel’s takeover will put it in a stronger position in the colouring and texturising sub-categories.

Data is said to indicate that Henkel would achieve well over 50% of hair texturing product sales thanks to taking on Shiseido’s brands.

North American potential

Agnieszka Saintemarie, Kline's salon hair care market expert, said: “North America is an attractive market. Even though it is a large and mature region, it still returns consistent growth each year.

“With a market so large, even a small percentage increase translates to tens of millions of dollars, so there is plenty of potential for all players.

"The acquired business is a nice addition to Henkel's portfolio. The Joico brand in particular has performed well in recent years, investing into hair colouring, the fastest growing category on the market. It has also been at the forefront of the unnatural colours trend with its highly popular metallic shades."

You may also like