Stephan says it has signed a letter of intent to buy up American Manicure, a provider of color boosters, special effects and manicure finishes with a turnover of $1.5m.

The letter of intent means that the transaction is still in the proposal stage and that the final decision will be subject to finalized negotiations between the two companies, as well as regulatory approval.

It is anticipated that both the regulatory and final business details should be completed by the end of June, allowing for an estimated acquisition completion date of July 1, 2007.

The deal follows Stephan's move to buy up the American Manicure Laboratories back in 2005, a transaction that aimed to broaden its capabilities in the nail care segement.

The proposed deal adds to a number of other business transactions completed by Stephan in the past few years, the most recent of which was a licensing agreement with United Media to manufacture and distribute bath, body and sun care products based on the comic chararcters Peanuts, By Charles Schultz.

The company says that, as a result of this licensing agreement, it is now developing a Snoopy Naturals product line, featuring 100 per cent pure botanical ingredients.

In 2005, the company also announced a licensing agreement with Simply Organic to manufacture, market and distribute the Simply Organic line of personal care products.

Currently Stephan runs a total of five manufacturing operations throughout the US, and is active in the hair care, skin care, sun care and color cosmetic markets.