MELROSE PARK, Ill., Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alberto Culver Company (NYSE: ACV), a leading manufacturer and marketer of beauty care brands including TRESemme, Alberto VO5, Nexxus, St. Ives and Noxzema today announced that they have entered into an agreement to acquire Simple Health & Beauty Limited, a leading U.K. based skin care company, from Duke Street, a mid-market private equity fund.

Highlights:

• Simple, a strong skin care brand with a unique market position that is distributed in mass outlets, is the second largest skin care brand on a value share basis in the U.K., Alberto Culver's largest foreign market.
• Estimated net sales for calendar year 2009 are approximately 65 million pounds Sterling and the business has an outstanding track record of growth.
• Strong gross margin and operating margins, accretive to Alberto Culver's current margin profile.
• Purchase price is 240 million pounds Sterling, approximately 11.0 times estimated calendar year 2009 EBITDA, and will be paid substantially from existing cash.
• Expected to close by the end of the calendar year.

Commenting on the announcement, Alberto Culver President and Chief Executive Officer V. James Marino said, "I am very pleased with the opportunity to complete a transaction that gives us a brand well known and respected in its market and a business that will be immediately accretive for Alberto Culver. Simple is a brand that we have followed for a long time due to its strong, differentiated positioning in the skin care category. I've admired the tremendous job that the management team has done in growing the business and we'll continue to leverage Simple's brand strength to drive future growth. This transaction reaffirms our overall focus on beauty care while moving us an important step forward in executing our strategy of expanding and strengthening our skin care portfolio."

The scale of the business, the awareness levels of the brand and its differentiated positioning all match the Company's strategic criteria in evaluating acquisition opportunities. After closing, Alberto Culver will become the number two manufacturer in the U.K. in skin care to complement its existing number two position in hair care. Mr. Marino added, "This is a great acquisition for Alberto Culver, not only from a strategic standpoint, but from a financial perspective as well. This transaction will allow us to efficiently deploy our cash to enhance shareholder value."

Carol Lavin Bernick, Executive Chairman of the Company, said, "I am very pleased with this opportunity to acquire such a well known and respected brand in our largest foreign market. It reaffirms our focus on beauty care and provides us with a terrific opportunity to execute our strategy of expanding and growing our skin care portfolio."

Duke Street is a leading mid-market private equity fund investing in the U.K. and France with approximately euro 2 billion in funds under management. It specializes in supporting management teams to transform their business.

The Company will discuss this announcement with investors on a call to be held Tuesday, December 15 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The dial-in numbers for the call are 866-742-2281 or 660-422-4763 (international callers) and the conference ID is 47052593. The numbers for a replay of the conference call are 800-642-1687 or 706-645-9291 and will be available through Friday, January 15, 2010. The conference ID is 47052593. The call and a replay will also be available on the internet for 30 days at www.alberto.com in the Investing Section, and at www.earnings.com.

Alberto Culver Company manufactures, distributes and markets leading beauty care and other personal care products including TRESemme, Alberto VO5, Nexxus, St. Ives and Noxzema in the United States and internationally. It is also the second largest producer in the U.S. of products for the ethnic hair care market with leading brands including Motions and Soft & Beautiful. Several of its household/grocery products such as Mrs. Dash and Static Guard are niche category leaders in the U.S.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and assessments of risks and uncertainties and reflect various assumptions concerning anticipated results, which may or may not prove to be correct. Some of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in such forward-looking statements include: the pattern of brand sales; competition within the relevant product markets; loss of one or more key customers; loss of one or more key employees; inability of efficiency initiatives to improve the company's margins; inability of the company to protect its intellectual property; the disruption of normal business activities due to the company's implementation of a new worldwide ERP system; risks inherent in acquisitions, divestitures and strategic alliances, including, without limitation, undisclosed liabilities and obligations for which we may have limited or no recourse; risks inherent in expanding in existing geographic locations and entering new geographic locations; loss of one or more key suppliers or copackers; adverse changes in currency exchange rates; the effects of a prolonged United States or global economic downturn or recession; special demands by key customers; health epidemics; unavailability of raw materials or finished products; increases in costs of raw materials and inflation rates; events that negatively affect the intended tax free nature of the distribution of shares of Alberto Culver Company in connection with the separation of the consumer products business from the beauty supply distribution business on November 16, 2006; changes in costs; the unanticipated costs and effects of legal or administrative proceedings; the risk that the expected cost savings related to the reorganizations and restructurings may not be realized; adverse weather conditions; loss of distributorship rights; sales by unauthorized distributors in the company's exclusive markets; and variations in political, economic or other factors such as interest rates, availability of credit, tax changes, legal and regulatory changes or other external factors over which the company has no control. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and there is no undertaking to update or revise them as more information becomes available. Additional factors that could cause Alberto Culver's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on November 24, 2009 with the SEC and available at the SEC's internet site (http://www.sec.gov).

SOURCE Alberto Culver Company

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