Consumer goods giant L’Oréal has acquired three skin care brands from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, headquartered in Laval, Quebec, Canada.
L’Oréal has paid $1.3bn to buy the CeraVe, AcneFree and AMBI skin care brands, which have a combined annualised revenue of roughly $168m.
These brands will deepen our relationships with health professionals and will strengthen our positions in North America.
Brigitte Liberman, President of L’Oréal Active Cosmetics Division, said the company was “thrilled” to be adding the three brands to the Active Cosmetics Division.
She said: “These brands will deepen our relationships with health professionals and will strengthen our positions in North America in this key and fast growing market. Furthermore, we believe CeraVe has a great potential for international growth in the years to come.”
L'Oréal’s Active Cosmetics Division includes brands such as La Roche-Posay, Vichy and SkinCeuticals, developed with and endorsed by health professionals.
Reshaping Valeant
Meanwhile, Valeant’s CEO Joseph Papa said: “The success of these products, and today’s transaction, is a testament to the Valeant teams who have impressively grown these brands over the past several years.
"We believe these products will benefit even further from the resources and capabilities of a global beauty company like L'Oréal, which is well equipped to build on the success of these brands and expand into new global markets.”
Papa said the company is “pleased” with the progress it is making in reshaping its product portfolio.
Valeant plans to use the funds generated from the sale to repay term loan debt under its Senior Credit Facility. Valeant has been watching its product sale revenues decline in recent years, with total revenues in Q3 2016 down 11% year-on-year to $2.48bn from $2.79bn.
Continued advancement
Papa said: “Our remaining consumer products business is well positioned for continued advancement within Valeant's portfolio.”
Valeant still owns a number of consumer health care brands including PeserVision and Ocuvite vitamins, and BioTrue lens care solutions.
CeraVe and AcneFree are both dermocosmetic brands, catering for sensitive and acne-prone skins, respectively. Meanwhile AMBI provides skin care products for multicultural consumers, with a focus on reducing the appearance of dark marks and skin discolouration.
The deal is due to close in the first quarter of this year.
