Coty explores sale of professional brands

Coty Inc. has launched a process to explore strategic alternatives for its professional beauty business and associated hair brands, as well as the company’s Brazilian operations, including a divesture.

Affected brands include OPI, Wella and ghd (Good Hair Day). Coty’s Board of Directors have determined that moving forward the company will focus more intently on its fragrance, cosmetics and skincare businesses.

These strategic initiatives are aligned with Coty’s previously announced turnaround plan focused on improving the company’s execution capabilities, better leveraging its assets and delivering significant financial improvements. After a thorough analysis, the management team and Board reached the conclusion that even with its strong current performance, the future growth opportunities of the professional beauty business lie increasingly outside the Company’s core strategic focus.

Pierre Laubies, Chief Executive Officer of Coty, said: “After stabilising our operations in fiscal 2019, we announced in early July a plan to turn around Coty’s performance. Today’s announcement accelerates this transformation and will help reposition Coty as a more focused and agile company, deleverage our balance sheet, and improve our ability to invest in areas with the greatest growth potential. The professional beauty teams have done an incredible job over the past three years in creating a strong business platform, putting us in the favorable position to find the best owner for that business while unlocking significant value for Coty Shareholders and allowing us to further grow our core remaining businesses.”