Wella company celebrates one year of independence
Published
09th Dec 2021
by kieran
Wella Company is celebrating its one-year anniversary as a stand-alone company, going independent in the midst of the pandemic last year.
Founded in Germany in 1880, the company’s return to independence on December 1 2020 was led by global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts Co. (KKR) who invested a majority-equity stake which has twice increased over the past year since.
This follows major growth for the brand, whose impressive portfolio includes Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, Nioxin, Sebastian Professional and ghd. These expansions include the hiring of 1,100 people across the globe, including a roster of beauty, retail and Consumer Packaged Goods leaders on its executive team.
Highlights from the Wella Professionals flagship umbrella brand include True Grey and Koleston Perfect, with Wella Retail delivering a record market share of 24% in Mexico and currently holding the #1 market position in the Middle East and #1 position for a premium brand in Brazil.
In other news, Clairol is now posting strong share gains over seven consecutive months and Nioxin grew net revenue double-digits over 2020 as more consumers focused on in-home self-care and treatments. Additionally, London-based ghd launched Unplugged proved successful, with its consistent double-digit growth increasing as they launched into the China market, selling 2,500 stylers in five minutes.
New appointments include Yannis Rodocanachi as president of Americas and Emmanuel Miran as chief global technology officer. Across the entire 6,000 employees from over 100 countries, 57% of Wella’s employees are currently women, and 45% of these women are at a director level or above.
Annie Young-Scrivner, CEO of Wella Company, said: “In our company’s first year, our team has much to be proud of. We achieved independent status at a difficult time for the beauty industry and have posted strong revenue growth compared against both 2020 and 2019. Our fiscal year, which began on July 1, has started strong. Our overall business is healthy, and our financial performance is over-delivering against our annual targets across every business and geography.”
She continued: “We remain focused on delighting customers and consumers with differentiated product innovations, and we will continue to expand across channels and geographies as we unlock the potential of our brands.”