Molton Brown Sold For £170m

Luxury beauty brand Molton Brown has fetched £170 million including repayment of debt from Japanese-owned Kao. It is expected that Molton Brown will continue to operate as a stand alone business within Kao's Prestige Cosmetics division. Molton Brown's business has shown consistent growth since it was acquired from administrators by the Warshaw family 15 years ago, with an annual compounded growth rate of over 30 per cent.

Originally founded in 1973, Molton Brown has become a recognised luxury brand offering lifestyle solutions through its premium bath, body, skin care and more recently leather and home accessory collections. Molton Brown's products are distributed in over 70 countries with an especially strong presence in leading department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges in the UK, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales in the USA and Barney's New York in Japan.

The company's recent focus has been opening stand alone emporia, located in 37 sites in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. In addition to its retail sales channels, Molton Brown also supplies premium amenity products to the world's most prestigious hotels and has an exclusive relationship with British Airways, providing the world's largest airline with "wellbeing in the air" comfort bags and the Molton Brown Travel Spas located at London's Heathrow and New York's JFK airports.

Kao's Beauty Care business has grown outside of Japan through various strategic acquisitions in North America and Europe. With the acquisition of Molton Brown, Kao will be gaining increased access to the global health and beauty market with a specific focus on Europe and the Americas.