Revlon to reach out to buyers post Labor Day

By

Robin Driver

Published
Aug 29, 2019

Following the announcement earlier this month that the cosmetics company would be exploring its options, Revlon, Inc. is reportedly planning to approach potential bidders after the Labor Day holiday weekend in September.

According to people with knowledge of the matter cited by a Bloomberg report published on Tuesday, the company is looking to find a buyer willing to help turn the business around without taking it private.

The sources also specified that Revlon does not want to sell its smaller brands off individually, and is instead focused on finding buyers interested in purchasing the whole company or its major brands.

Revlon, the majority shareholder of which is holding company MacAndrews and Forbes, which currently holds an approximately 87% stake in the New York-based cosmetics maker, will be supported in its negotiations with potential buyers by financial adviser Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
 
Despite a dynamic and rapidly growing beauty market, Revlon, which owns over 15 brands, including Revlon, Elizabeth Arden and Almay, has been struggling to fend off competition from the likes of long-time rival Estée Lauder and a host of smaller, social-media savvy newcomers who have been busy turning the industry on its head over the last few years.
 
Present on more than 150 markets around the world, Revlon has been able to make some promising progress in recent months, narrowing its losses in the first quarter with the help of solid sales in North America, where the company’s namesake brand made particularly strong revenue gains.
 
As the company works to revitalize its brands, however, it is on the fast-growing international market that Revlon is pinning its highest hopes. And this focus looks to be well placed, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. having recently reported on a 5.9% rise in global annual beauty product sales, which totaled $302 billion last year, while GlobalData expects sales of cosmetics and toiletries to total $100 billion in China alone by 2022.  
 
Revlon, Goldman Sachs, and MacAndrews and Forbes have not yet commented on Bloomberg’s report.