Helen of Troy (HELE) Sells Personal Care Unit for $44.7M

Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ: HELE) announced it has sold its mass market Personal Care business, not including the Latin America and Caribbean regions, to HRB Brands LLC, a privately-held company that is one of the largest independent branded personal care companies in North America for $44.7 million in cash. The transaction also includes an option that provides HRB Brands LLC the right to purchase the Latin America and Caribbean Personal Care businesses no later than the end of fiscal year 2022, subject to meeting certain agreed-upon conditions. Proceeds from the sale announced today represent substantially all of the negotiated value for the total global Personal Care business.

The Company expects to use the proceeds to create further shareholder value in line with Helen of Troy’s capital allocation strategy, including paying down debt, making accretive acquisitions of additional Leadership Brands that are a better fit with the long-term growth strategies for the Company’s portfolio, or engaging in opportunistic share repurchases. The Company will discuss the transaction during its first quarter fiscal year 2022 earnings conference call, which is expected to take place in early July 2021.

Julien R. Mininberg, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “We are excited about this opportunity for HRB Brands LLC, a company that we believe is well-positioned to take the Personal Care business to its next phase of growth. The Personal Care portfolio includes iconic brands such as Brut, Pert Plus, Sure, Infusium, and Vitalis.”

Mr. Mininberg continued: “This transaction advances Helen of Troy’s strategy to focus its resources on its growing portfolio of eight Leadership Brands. These are OXO, Hydro Flask, Vicks, Braun, PUR, Honeywell, Drybar, and HOT Tools, all of which leverage our shared services platform, deliver strong cash flow, and provide a global presence we can build on as we continue to execute our strategic Transformation Plan. Our Leadership Brands are among our highest volume and highest margin brands, which together comprised over 80% of global sales in fiscal year 2021. In our Beauty segment, we continue to be focused on accelerating the growth of our global appliance and prestige liquids businesses under the Revlon, Drybar, and HOT Tools brand names. We expect this divestiture to help us accelerate our top and bottom-line growth rates and allow us to redeploy the capital in line with Helen of Troy’s capital allocation strategy.”

Jim Daniels, CEO of HRB Brands LLC, said, “We are very excited about today’s announcement to extend our trusted brand lineup. We are extremely pleased to add these respected, well-known brands with enduring equity competing primarily in the Hair Care, Deodorant, and Fragrance categories. We believe this combination, together with our distinctive entrepreneurial culture, lean operating structure, and efficient business model, will enable HRB Brands LLC to continue to bring innovative and category leading innovations to market.”

Cantor Fitzgerald provided lead advisory services and Baker & McKenzie LLP served as legal counsel to Helen of Troy on the transaction. Gibson Dunn served as legal counsel to HRB Brands LLC on the transaction.

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