LVMH BUYS MAJORITY OF FRESH
Byline: Jennifer Weil
PARIS — LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton keeps building on its American dream.
Just seven months after taking over Urban Decay, its fourth U.S. beauty acquisition, LVMH announced Monday it has secured a majority stake in Fresh, the beauty firm based in Boston, for an undisclosed sum.
“We are delighted to welcome this promising and innovative company into our select and fast-growing group of U.S.-based beauty companies,” said Patrick Choel, president of LVMH’s fragrances and cosmetics division, of Fresh in a statement.
On his part, Lev Glazman, chief operating officer of Fresh, said he feels confident in the LVMH pairing. “We’ve had a lot of interest in Fresh over the last year or so,” he explained, “but the chemistry was there at the beginning with LVMH.”
Glazman said Fresh linked up with LVMH so it could grow more quickly. “Today, sometimes you have to act very fast to get a brand out there,” he explained. “With a bigger group, there is a way for that to happen.”
LVMH isn’t shy about its plans for Fresh. In a statement it said: “The creative spirit of the Fresh management team, combined with LVMH’s research and development capacities and international network, will use the universal appeal of the Fresh concept as a starting point from which to transform the company into one of the fastest-growing beauty firms in the coming years.”
LVMH already has a good track record with its other U.S. buys, which include Bliss, Hard Candy and Benefit. At its analyst meeting this month, LVMH executives said each of those beauty brands has registered sales growth of about 90 percent in the first half of 2000, year on year.
Fresh, whose product lineup includes fragrance, skin care and cosmetics, was founded by Glazman and Alina Roytberg nine years ago. The management structure is expected to remain. “It’s business as usual [at Fresh],” said Glazman.