Revlon’s developments so far in 2016
Quite early on in March, Cosmetics Design reported CEO Lorenzo Delpani to have stepped down from the position he’d held since 2013, citing personal reasons and that he would continue to work as a paid advisor to the company.
The resignation was sudden but investors were reported to have responded ‘favorably’. Fabian Garcia has since taken his place after working at Colgate-Palmolive for 13 years.
The company had been toying with the idea of change for several weeks prior to the announcement as Revlon’s majority shareholder Ron Perelman filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in mid-January declaring that he (or rather his investment firm MacAndrews & Forbes) was exploring strategic alternatives for the beauty company.
Perlman, through the firm, owns a 77.6% stake in Revlon and at the time of the filing was presumably aiming to sell off the investment.
As the summer rolled around, the beauty behemoth announced it was acquiring nail polish remover brand Cutex with plans to redesign the range and optimize the brand’s full potential on a global scale.
While Coty gave up the nail brand as part of that company’s ongoing transformation, reps made it clear that the company was not getting out of the nail color / nail care category.
Later that month, Revlon revealed it was adding Elizabeth Arden’s high profile skin care, color cosmetics and fragrance brands to its multinational business.
Paying $14 per share, the cosmetics player stated that both companies were expected to benefit from the ‘expanded category mix,’ and ‘channel diversification,’ by combining the businesses - ultimately saving costs by eliminating redundancies.
While some companies were slowing down in July, Revlon kept up the momentum, appointing Pamela Gill Alabaster as head of global corporate communications and the lead on corporate social responsibility.
Alabaster came most previously, from Estée Lauder Companies where she served as VP Global Corporate Responsibility charged with developing the strategic framework for the company’s corporate responsibility program.
