Yellow Wood Partners Portfolio Company Suave Brands Company Completes ChapStick Acquisition

BOSTON, June 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Yellow Wood Partners LLC ("Yellow Wood"), a Boston-based private equity firm known for investing in consumer brands and companies, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Suave Brands Company, has successfully completed the acquisition of the ChapStick brand from Haleon (LSE /NYSE: HLN). This transaction also results in Haleon becoming a shareholder in Suave Brands Company.

Suave Brands Company Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Alter, said, "As we continue to build Suave Brands Company as the top independent North American beauty & personal care company by combining the agility of a start-up with the power of market leading brands, the addition of ChapStick is a perfect fit that augments our strategy. This transaction is a great example of Suave Brands Company's disciplined approach to value-creating acquisitions and our larger growth strategy."

Suave is a value-oriented personal care brand that sells products across the hair, body, skin and antiperspirant and deodorant segments. Suave was one of the first brands in the 1930s to bring salon-quality hair care to the general public at an accessible price. The Suave brand sells products for women, men and kids across mass retailers, grocery stores, drug retailers, and ecommerce platforms and today is found in one out of every two U.S. households.

Dana Schmaltz, Partner at Yellow Wood Partners, commented, "We see strategic value in combining ChapStick with Suave and as a result of this acquisition, we have expanded Suave's capabilities and portfolio of products. Our brands have strong equity and a profitable organic growth strategy in place. The combined expertise and resources of Suave and ChapStick will enable us to better serve our customers and consumers and accelerate growth."

Tad Yanagi, Partner at Yellow Wood Partners, added, "Over the past several months, we have worked with Haleon and ChapStick management to seamlessly integrate the brand into the Suave Brands Company's sales presence, operational footprint and marketing organization. With the completion of this acquisition, Suave Brands Company's annual retail sales now reach ~$800 million, and we look forward to working with our retail partners to take the next step in the brands' growth."

Yellow Wood's diverse portfolio of consumer brands also includes global footcare brands Dr. Scholl's and Scholl International; Beacon Wellness Brands, led by its anchor brand PlusOne®, the #1 sexual wellness device brand; beauty brands Real Techniques and EcoTools; skincare brand Byoma, and self-tanning brands Isle of Paradise, Tanologist and TanLuxe. The Elida Beauty portfolio, recently acquired from Unilever, includes leading brands such as Q-Tips, Caress, TiGi, Ponds, St. Ives, and Noxzema, as well as European brands including Brut, Impulse, Monsavon, and Timotei. Yellow Wood has developed extensive experience working with multi-national branded consumer packaged goods companies, such as Unilever, Haleon, Bayer, and Reckitt Benckiser, which enabled the successful acquisitions of the ChapStick brand from Haleon and the Elida Beauty portfolio from Unilever this year.

About ChapStick
ChapStick invented the lip care category in the 1880s with the launch of a now-iconic lip balm that made ChapStick a household name. Today, ChapStick is the leader in lip care and synonymous with the product category – it is the #1 brand by volume and has over 80% brand awareness.

About Suave Brands Company
Suave Brands Company was established in 2023 after Yellow Wood Partners acquired the Suave brand from Unilever, transforming it into a standalone company. The Suave Brands Co. mission is to make trusted high-quality beauty and personal care products accessible to all. For more information, please visit www.suave.com.

About Yellow Wood Partners
Yellow Wood Partners is a Boston-based private investment firm that invests exclusively in the consumer industry in the middle market. The firm seeks to acquire branded consumer products that sell into a variety of consumer channels, including mass, drug, food, specialty, value, club, and e-commerce. Yellow Wood's Consumer Operating DNA investment and operating strategy is based on utilizing the firm's functional operating resources to help maximize brand performance by driving organic growth and increasing operating efficiencies. The firm seeks to acquire additional brands to create new platform investments and accelerate growth in its limited number of platform portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.yellowwoodpartners.com.

Contact: Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations, LLC
[email protected]
914-834-4334

SOURCE Yellow Wood Partners