HRB Brands, formerly known as High Ridge Brands and home to the likes of Alberto VO5, Zest and Coast, is changing hands.
Tengram Capital Partners, the private equity firm that bought HRB Brands out of bankruptcy in 2020, has sold it to Sodalis Group, the Italian health, beauty and personal care company, which is continuing its streak of acquisitions and had been looking for a way into the American market.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but WWD understands the price paid was close to $200 million. According to industry sources, HRB Brands’ sales were around $300 million.
During Tengram’s ownership, HRB completed four strategic transactions, including buying Helen of Troy’s mass market personal care business in 2021. It also expanded its geographic footprint to Latin America and made significant investments in management and operational infrastructure.
“After tremendous effort over four years, we are pleased to deliver outsized returns to our loyal investors,” said William Sweedler, managing partner of Tengram and Windsong.
Jim Daniels, the chief executive officer of HRB twice over who came back as part of the Tengram deal in 2020, will remain in his position.
“Becoming part of the Sodalis Group provides a very exciting new chapter for us,” he said. “Our combined teams are already working well together to leverage each other’s talents and brand portfolios to rapidly grow our combined European, North and Latin America businesses. We are excited to channel our experience to set a new path within the Sodalis galaxy toward even more ambitious goals.”
Fabio Granata, CEO of Sodalis Group, said: “With this acquisition, what seemed like a crazy dream becomes reality: Sodalis enters the American market with a direct affiliate. It is a great transformation for our company, born in a small Italian province, now expanding to the United States market. We believe in an important growth plan for Sodalis USA both for the evolution of the current business and as a great platform to launch our European power brands in North America and South America and to complete new acquisitions.”
In May, Sodalis Group secured a majority stake in German beauty company Artdeco Group. Overall, it has completed more than 20 acquisitions in the last 20 years and now operates a portfolio that includes Biopoint, Leocrema, Dermolab, Tesori D’Oriente, Noxzema and Brelil, among others.
