Evermark: Suave Brands and Elida Beauty form personal care powerhouse

Suave Brands Company and Elida Beauty have merged to create a new beauty giant, Evermark. The newcomer has hinted at the potential to introduce fresh brands. 

Both businesses are portfolio companies of Yellow Wood Partners, a consumer-focused private equity investment firm. 

“Bringing these two companies together creates a platform of leading personal care brands that are valued and used daily by tens of millions of consumers across the globe,” says Dana Schmaltz, partner at Yellow Wood. 

“We look forward to building on the existing platform and potentially adding additional great brands and product lines to the company,” she continues. 

Evermark’s brand portfolio now comprises household names such as Suave, Q-tips, ChapStick, Pond’s, Caress, St. Ives, Noxzema, and TIGI. Suave, Q-tips, and ChapStick are all touted to be the top brand by volume in the US in their respective personal care categories. 

International market brands include V05, Brut, Impulse, Alberto Balsam, Timotei, and Monsavon.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Maintaining legacy 

Evermark aims to build upon the existing legacy of Suave Brands and Elida to ensure continued growth of the two companies’ staple brands.

“With its new larger scale and diversification, Evermark will be able to build on its extraordinary brand portfolio to better reach and serve consumers, retail partners, and stakeholders… We can continue to bring innovative new products and solutions to the consumer market, and are excited to see the portfolio of Evermark brands evolve to meet our customers’ needs,” says Schmaltz.Evermark aims to expand its influence across more households worldwide. 

The unified organization says it is positioned to be a leading independent personal care company in terms of household penetration. It has annual retail sales of approximately US$1.9 billion. 

“With its portfolio of brands, steady cash-flow and loyal customer base, Evermark is well positioned to benefit from operational scale and drive long-term value creation, with diversification across brands, categories and customers,” says the new conglomerate. 

Daniel Alter, CEO of Suave Brands, will become the CEO of Evermark, and Alfie Vivian, formerly CEO of Elida, is now the president of the European business. The current Suave management team, led by Alter, will remain in place to oversee the business with additional leaders joining from Elida. 

“Personal care brands play an important role in consumers’ daily lives, with loyalty built on trust and consistent performance,” says Alter. “By bringing Suave and Elida together, we can further strengthen our relationship with our customers, combine complementary strengths to invest in product quality, innovation, and accessibility, while preserving the product identities consumers already know and love.”

The name Evermark was chosen to reflect the company’s commitment to the “millions of customers who use and trust these personal care brands on a daily basis.”

Full-scale integration efforts are underway. The transition to the Evermark name will occur gradually across systems and materials in the coming months. The company will work closely with retail, supplier, and strategic partners throughout this transition.

Morgan Stanley served as financial advisor to Suave, and Houlihan Lokey provided a fairness opinion to Yellow Wood. Latham & Watkins served as legal advisor for Elida, and Fried Frank served as legal advisor for Suave Brands Company.

Selling and buying

The beauty industry has recently witnessed big business moves by major players. Merging two established brands gives Evermark the opportunity to serve a broader audience.

Last week, rumours circulated if Olaplex had received a takeover offer from German consumer goods company Henkel. The news followed other reports that Estée Lauder was mulling the sale of Smashbox, Too Faced, and Dr. Jart+. 

Additionally, in November, Kimberly-Clark announced it would buy Kenvue in a deal valued at US$48.7 billion. The move represented the largest ever buyout in the US consumer goods sector.