Coty acquires Del Laboratories and parent company

Coty, the world's largest fragrance company with net sales of $3.3bn in 2007, is on the war path after declaring its ambition to pass the $5bn turnover mark by 2010. All operations of DLI Holding Corp., which is principally owned by investment funds associated with Kelso & Company, will be merged with those of Coty under the deal. The acquisition will add cosmetics brands such as Sally Hansen and N.Y.C. to Coty's portfolio which already includes several celebrity ranges. Coty produces perfumes for Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker and David Beckham but is moving towards skin care and color cosmetics with last week's acquisition. "Del's established, well-regarded portfolio of quality products mesh well with our core offerings and their strong presence in North America complements Coty Beauty and Coty's international strength," said​ Coty CEO Bernd Beetz. DLI Holding Corp. also benefit from the deal and will be able to build the company's many growth opportunities with the new ownership structure, said Del Laboratories CEO Charles Hinkaty. Coty, which is owned by Germany-based JAB investments, a private holding company, became the world's largest cosmetics company when it bought Unilever's fragrances division in May 2005. The company plans to become one of the five largest beauty companies in the world. Earlier this year it consolidated its regional businesses and created a global beauty unit to ignite further growth. The financial terms of the acquisition of DLI Holding Corp., which has net sales of over $400m, were not disclosed. The deal is expected to be closed by the December, 31. The acquisition of DLI Holding is a rare example of a large private equity deal in the current climate of rising interest rates and uncertain economic growth figures.