Press releases

Deloitte advises on sale of Original Additions TopCo Limited (“Original Additions”) to US-headquartered PDC Brands

Acquisition trail of a cosmetic business runs from Connecticut all the way to London’s Kings Road

4 April 2016

Deloitte, the business advisory firm, has acted as lead corporate finance adviser on the sale of Original Additions, a London-based beauty company, to PDC Brands, a global consumer product company headquartered in Connecticut, USA. The acquisition of the £40m turnover business, follows recent Deloitte research showing increased levels of US interest in acquiring UK assets.

Original Additions, founded in London on the Kings Road in Chelsea, offers three market-leading beauty brands: Eylure (false eyelashes), Elegant Touch (nailcare) and Salon System (professional beauty products). It has a distribution network spanning 40 countries, most of the major drug, beauty and fashion chains, and more than 40,000 retail customers worldwide. The company is backed by Lloyds Development Capital (LDC).

The shareholders of Original Additions were advised on the sale from both a corporate finance and tax perspective by Deloitte, through a team led out of its Nottingham practice, with legal advice from Eversheds.

David Jones, a corporate finance partner at Deloitte, commented: “We have worked closely with Original Additions over the last 12 months and believe this to be a great result for all parties. We strive to work with clients who lead in their respective markets and Original Additions embodies this objective. This deal is also yet another example of a thriving US/UK M&A deal corridor, which is now one of the largest bilateral cross-border deal corridor in the world by value and volume. I certainly don’t expect this to be the last transaction of its kind.”

James Stammer, CEO of acquirers PDC Brands, commented: “Managing Director Simon Zussman and his team at Original Additions have built powerhouse cosmetics brands through creativity, innovation and a commitment to quality. For us, this is the first step in PDC’s long term goal of becoming a major player in European cosmetics and beauty.”
PDC Brands was founded in 1981 and since joining forces with Boston-based Private Equity firm Yellow Wood Partners in 2012 has doubled its sales and profits. The acquisition provides PDC Brands with access to key distribution channels in the UK and Europe and in return will be able to leverage its existing distribution relationships in the US to accelerate growth of the three Original Additions brands.

Simon Zussman, Managing Director of Original Additions, concluded: “The acquisition is a really positive development for both businesses. Following a very successful five years of growth working alongside LDC we now enter a new and dynamic phase for Original Additions that I believe will see us grow sharply in international markets and particularly in the USA.”

References:
US/UK M&A Deal Monitor, Q4 2015

For wider industry reference, Deloitte has also issued a recent report on M&A activity in Consumer Businesses

End

Notes to editors

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte LLP, which is among the country's leading professional services firms.

Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, whose member firms are legally separate and independent entities. Please see www.deloitte.co.uk/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.

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