Dirty Works owner alert to acquisition opportunities

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 1, 2019

British beauty group Swallowfield has changed its name to Brand Architekts, raised £35m to pay off debt and announced it is looking for potential acquisition opportunities.

The group is transitioning from being a cosmetics manufacturing business to a portfolio of beauty brands, with a range of skincare and grooming labels including Dirty Works, Super Facialist, Fish Soho, and Kind Natured.

In a full-year financial report released on Monday, the group said that the recent sale of is manufacturing business to Canadian group KDC/One for £35m will help it move from a net debt position of £12m last year to a significant positive cash position on completion of £24m.

Group revenues (including revenues from the manufacturing business) rose by 8% to £77.3m in the year ended 29 June 2019, while the owned brands portfolio experienced a 6.7% decrease in revenues, hit by lower consumer confidence and retail challenges.

“The business is now well capitalised and we will use some of the proceeds from the disposal to grow the business organically and through selective acquisitions that will deliver further profitability and scale,” said Brendan Hynes, executive chairman in a statement.

Following the sale of the manufacturing business, Hynes will act as executive chairman until a permanent replacement is appointed. CEO Tim Perman has stepped down from his role and Mathew Gazzard, formerly group finance director and Jane Fletcher, formerly group sales and marketing director, will continue to support the existing management team until a full CFO is appointed.