Coty Looking to Sell off Professional Beauty Arm
Coty is looking to sell its professional beauty division as part of an ongoing strategic review and focus on its cosmetics, fragrance and skincare arms. The company’s shares rose nearly 15% as it announced interest in the sale of business units that sell Wella, Clairol, and OPI brands. Looking to complete the sale by 2020 end, Coty will also be divesting Good Hair Day (GHD) as well as selling its Brazilian operations.
Pierre Laubies, Chief Executive Officer of Coty, said, “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 company will be using any proceeds to “pay down debt and return excess cash directly to shareholders” – showcasing the ramifications of the beauty giant’s setbacks since the integration of P&G’s beauty arm in 2015 and supply chain problems last year. It is thought to be majority shareholder JAB’s latest attempt at turning the ailing company around.