The company said that the acquisition would be made through its Beauty Systems Group, but did not reveal the terms or the cost of the transaction.
The move follows plans by the group to sell its Sally Beauty professional hair care division and will fill a gap that has concerned some market experts.
Indeed, at the end of last week Standard & Poors took the decision to downgrade its rating for the company to a negative watch over concerns that the sale of Sally Beauty would reduce its earning base and its business diversity.
With an estimated annual sales pf $30m, Salon Success is tiny in comparison to the global reach of Sally Beauty, but the deal does definitely fill a gap in the European market and could be a step in the right direction towards making up for lost business in the US market.
Based in Aylesbury, UK, Salon Success possesses the rights to Paul Mitchell professional hair care distribution in over 15 European countries, as well as most of Florida, all of Georgia and a number of other states in the US.
Likewise, the deal also means that the company is back on the acquisition trail, a move that should help to re-balance the company's business portfolio and fill the hole left when the Sally Beauty business is eventually sold.
Alberto-Culver CEO Howard Bernick pointed out the fact that the acquisition was the first by its Beauty Systems Group for over a year and the group's first acquisition outside North America.
Bernick also pointed out the importance of the move to the group's operations in the all-important Florida market.
"We are optimistic about using this acquisition as the base to expand our BSG business throughout Florida and the newly acquired overseas geographies in the years ahead," he said.
Following the acquisition all eyes will be back on the sale of Alberto-Culver's Sally Beauty division, a deal that is estimated to be worth $3bn and one that is considered to be crucial to the future of the company.
Alberto-Culver had agreed to sell the division to the Regis Corporation back in January, but following down scaled sales estimates for the year, the company decided to back out of the deal incurring fines estimated at around $50m in the process.