Patricia Lopez joins High Ridge Brands as CEO

16-Jul-2017 - Last updated on 17-Jul-2017 at 13:27 GMT

The personal care products company runs a global business from its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and supporting offices in Buena Park, California; Slough, UK; and Shenzhen, China. As of this month, Lopez is leading the company and its roster of well-known brands, which includes Alberto VO5, LA Looks, Rave, White Rain, and Zest.

Patricia Lopez is a welcome addition to the company. “We are fortunate and excited to have Ms. Lopez join the High Ridge Brands organization at an important time in the Company's history,” John Compton, chairman of the board of directors of High Ridge Brands and an operating partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, says in a media release. “Ms. Lopez's extensive experience and long-tested talent as a leader in the consumer products industry will be a significant asset in driving the mission and strategy of the organization as we strive to offer consumers distinctive, high quality products at compelling values.”

Leadership knowhow

Lopez arrives at High Ridge Brands with decades of experience as a beauty executive. She was most recently general manager North America for Estée Lauder, a role in which she was also managing that company’s luxury lifestyle brand Aerin Beauty.

She has also served as chief marketing officer for Avon Products and worked for some 25 years at P&G in various management and global marketing positions. Now she’s squarely focused on the High Ridge portfolio of personal care brands.

“I am honored to be joining the High Ridge Brands team at this exciting time in its evolution,” Lopez tells the press. “I have enjoyed working with well-known, heritage brands in my past and the vast brand equity in the Company's portfolio, with brands such as Zest, Alberto VO5, and REACH, among others, presents a wonderful opportunity to bring pride, relevance and new energy to the Company's products which play an important and personal role in the everyday lives of our consumers. With the dedicated support of our employees, I am excited about what the future holds for High Ridge Brands and the impact we can have on the lives of our consumers.”

For-profit enterprise

Just over one year ago Cosmetics Design reported that High Ridge Brands was acquired by Clayton Dubilier Rice. It stands to reason that High Ridge Brands is an investment property, according to its own about page, “the company operates an asset-light business model, outsourcing most of its manufacturing needs, and currently has approximately 160 employees worldwide.”

Shortly after the firm’s acquisition of High Ridge, Diya Talwar joined the company as SVP of business development and strategy. Talwar’s expertise is in mergers and acquisitions and corporate development. At the time of her appointment, High Ridge Brands made it clear that the company is “actively seeks value-enhancing acquisitions to further expand its branded personal care platform,” according to the company snapshot on bloomberg.com.