Korea’s leading consumer goods company, LG Household & Health Care has agreed to buy New Avon (commonly referred to as Avon North America) for US$125 million.
LG H&H sells products in all major categories including cosmetics, personal care, home care and beverages in Korea and distributes a number of its brands including Belif and The History of Whoo in the US.
Announcing the acquisition, LG H&H chief executive Suk Cha said the company recognises “Avon North America’s strong brand, leading market position in the region, and talented employees and representatives”.
“Avon North America’s innovative social selling model builds deep connections with customers and we are excited to leverage this as we continue to expand,” he said.
“We look forward to building on Avon North America’s success to drive customer engagement and long-term growth in this market.”
The acquisition of the 133-year-old brand, its employees and network of 250,000 sales representatives throughout North America will support LG H&H’s “international growth plans” and help Avon North America “strengthen its position as the leading social selling beauty company in the region”.
In addition Avon North America is “expected to benefit from LG H&H’s world-class R&D capabilities in cosmetics, personal care, fragrance, packaging and design”.
Avon North America CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said the company is thrilled to welcome “our new partner, who shares our commitment to innovation, and our clear focus on putting customers first”.
“LG H&H respects and admires our strong community of representatives, and supports our mission to empower women through economic opportunity,” she said.
New Avon is a privately held company, established in 2016, which develops and distributes products under the Avon name in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It is a separate company from Avon Products (aka Avon Worldwide), which is a global publicly traded corporation, operating in over 50 countries outside the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Avon Worldwide CEO Jan Zijderveld said the corporation is excited to watch “the progress” that Avon North America will make as part of LG H&H.
Avon Worldwide will however “remain focused on executing our strategy (unveiled in September 2018) to ‘Open Up Avon’,” she said.
“We are operating with urgency as we renew our focus on our representatives, reboot direct selling, simplify our operations and digitise the business.
“We are seeing signs that our efforts are taking hold and are confident that we are on the right path to returning to growth and driving value for our shareholders.”
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