Lornamead on shopping

Lornamead has made its first significant purchase in North America with the acquisition of the Finesse and Aqua Net hair care brands from Unilever. Together the brands generated $85m in sales in 2005. Lornamead has bought the worldwide rights, with the exception of Aqua Net in Mexico.

"We believe that this acquisition makes Lornamead a significant player in the hair care category worldwide," said Mike Jatania, chief executive of Lornamead. "There is a significant opportunity to revitalise and further strengthen brand distribution as well as potentially introduce new products and widen the customer base." Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed but Lornamead says that such deals are normally worth 1.5 times normal sales. Lornamead has made a number of acquisitions over the last few years, most recently buying Yardley from P&G.