Investindustrial

In March 2007 Investindustrial acquired Morris Profumi (www.morrisprofumi.com) in a corporate carve-out from the Henkel group as a platform investment for a build-up in the perfume and cosmetics industry. Morris’ perfumes under license include brands such as Atkinsons, Ducati, Ferrari, Grigio Perla, I Coloniali, La Perla and Sergio Tacchini. The first stage of the build-up required the company to be reorganised to be able to operate on a stand-alone basis. This was completed ahead of schedule in the first six months of the ownership and included the incorporation of an independent management team.

The first add-on acquisition of the build-up strategy was Atkinsons, acquired in November 2007. The acquisition of Atkinsons gave Morris Profumi a portfolio of owned brands (Atkinsons, I Coloniali) in complementary product lines (bath, skin and soap products) and the ability to improve margins through distribution and production cost synergies. Furthermore, Atkinsons had a significant presence in Italy and similar target clients to Morris Profumi.

The second add-on acquisition of the build-up strategy was Selective Beauty, a major French distributor and developer of perfumes and fragrances. The investment was made in June 2008 in a turnaround transaction that contributed five leading brands (Benetton, Iceberg, John Galliano, Max Mara and Trussardi) to the Morris Profumi build-up and the opportunity to access international markets.