Unilever ditches long-established US beauty brand Suave after almost a century

15 Feb 2023 --- Private equity firm focused on investing in consumer brands and companies, Yellow Wood Partners, has acquired Unilever’s Suave brand in North America. The Suave beauty and personal care brand includes hair care, skincare, skin cleansing and deodorant products and was one of the first brands in the 1930s to bring salon-quality hair care to the general public.

The transaction is part of Unilever’s broader strategy of shifting its portfolio toward strategic growth spaces, recently illustrated by other divestments such as the sale of its global tea business and the acquisition of Nutrafol, a provider of hair wellness products.

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023. The financial terms of the agreement are undisclosed.

“Suave has been a much-loved brand since the 1930s, and I am confident it will continue to thrive and serve consumers under its new ownership in North America,” says Esi Eggleston Bracey, president at Unilever USA and CEO at Unilever Personal Care North America.

Dana Schmaltz, partner at Yellow Wood Partners, explains that the long-established history of the Suave brand is what attracts their investment, namely because it is “ubiquitously recognized for its long history of providing accessible high-quality beauty products to American consumers.”

The Suave brand includes hair care, skincare, skin cleansing and deodorant products.Suave will continue to be owned and operated by Unilever outside the US and Canada.

Expanding portfolio
Yellow Wood’s family of consumer brands include global footcare brand Dr. Scholl’s and Scholl International, Beacon Wellness Brands, led by its anchor brand PlusOne, the sexual wellness device brand. 

Its beauty brands portfolio includes Real Techniques and EcoTools; self-tanning brands Isle of Paradise, Tanologist and TanLuxe; and skincare brands Freeman Beauty and the recently launched Byoma.

“We look forward to bringing a significantly increased level of brand investment as well as operational focus to leverage Suave’s high brand recognition and value proposition to major retailers and consumers in North America,” remarks Tad Yanagi, partner at Yellow Wood Partners.

“Working with Unilever allowed us to formulate a transition plan to build a more focused stand-alone company as we have done in the past with other carve-outs from multinational CPG companies.”

“Our Consumer Operating DNA strategy allowed us to develop a sourcing and distribution network that we believe will deliver exceptional customer experience,” he adds.

The brand sells products for women, men and kids in mass retailers and e-commerce platforms. Its products include hair and body products, including shampoos, conditioners, treatments and serums, styling products, body wash, antiperspirants, deodorants and skincare.

“We believe our extensive experience with divestitures of large and small brands from multinational consumer-branded companies such as Bayer and Reckitt will help us successfully transition and grow Suave as a focused brand in the Yellow Wood portfolio,” asserts Schmaltz.

Unilever streamlining businesses
Unilever recently announced the deodorants category performed strongly in its Personal Care Business Group. Within its Beauty & Wellbeing Business Group, the Hair Care category saw mid-single-digit growth, largely driven by Latin America, India and Turkey.

“Our new operating model is already unlocking a culture of bolder and more rapid decision-making with improved accountability,” says Alan Jope, CEO at Unilever.

“We continue to improve our growth profile, with the sale of the global Tea business and the acquisition of Nutrafol. We are increasingly realizing the benefits from the reshaped portfolio, accelerated savings delivery and improved execution.”

“There is more to do, but the changes we have made mean that we start 2023 with momentum, setting us up well for delivering another year of higher growth, which remains our first priority.”

By Radhika Sikaria