L'Oreal acquires US professional hair care brand

In line with the massive trend towards the micro-segmentation of the hair care market, the PureOlogy brand has witnessed sales increase by more than four-fold in the last four years, culminating in a turnover of $57m during 2006. Although L'Oreal did not reveal the terms of the transaction, it said that it would be consolidating the company from May 8, and that it would have a neutral impact during the 2007 financial year and a positive impact by the 2008 financial year. Industry experts believe that the aim of the acquisition will be to expand distribution channels, which should soon see the brand available in a wider ranger of retail outlets. PureOlogy was founded in 2001 by Jim and Cheryl Markham, before TSG Consumer Partners, a private equity investment firm specializing in branded goods, became a majority stakeholder in 2004. Jim Markham, PureOlogy CEO, said that TSG had helped the company build itself up to become the fastest-growing professional hair care brand in North America, adding that the new association with L'Oreal would help to achieve even greater aims. Markham also confirmed that he would be continuing in his current role during the transitional phase to integrate the brand into the L'Oreal portfolio. The brand has built its name providing high quality hair care products with active ingredients specifically formulated to enhance and protect color-treated hair. The PureOlogy brand has been riding a wave of increasing interest in hair care products formulated to treat specific hair types. Likewise, this phenomenon has also led to the increasing popularity of products formulated for curly, straight and combination hair types, to mention just a few. In fact, it is this kind of micro-segmentation in the developed markets, combined with strong growth in the developing markets that should see annual growth in the hair care market top 3.7 per cent in coming years, leading the value of the global market to exceed $300 billion by 2010, according to market research experts Euromonitor. Experts have also pointed out how packaging innovation is also helping to drive the market, with single serve packaging, increasingly ergonomic designs and innovations in closures helping to drive the market. Indeed the PureOlogy's brand's eye-catching packaging has won a number of awards.