MEN’S SHAVE START-UP HARRY’S SOLD TO SCHICK PARENT COMPANY FOR $1.37 BILLION

Edgewell Personal Care Company, which owns brands like Schick, Banana Boat, and Wet Ones, has entered into a deal to acquire Harry’s in a cash and stock transaction that values the shave start-up at $1.37 billion. Upon completion of the transaction at the end of the first quarter of 2020, Harry’s shareholders will own approximately 11 percent of Edgewell.

Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider, Harry’s co-founders and co-CEOs, have agreed to join the executive team of Edgewell at closing, to serve as co-presidents of U.S. operations.

The combined company will access Edgewell’s exceptional product technology to continue building on Harry’s shave and personal care products. In addition, with Edgewell’s global scale and infrastructure, the combined company will introduce Harry’s proven brands into new markets.

Edgewell plans to capitalize on Harry’s strength in brand positioning and design to enhance its North American Wet Shave offering to appeal to a broader and more diverse set of consumers. Edgewell will also leverage Harry’s direct-to-consumer capabilities to drive online growth. Internationally, the combined company will be well-positioned to accelerate growth in attractive categories.

“The combination of Edgewell and Harry’s is a pivotal step forward in further transforming our organization and strengthening our competitive position and ability to drive sustained growth and value creation,” said Rod Little, president and chief executive officer of Edgewell. “Building on Edgewell’s and Harry’s complementary strengths, our combined company will have leading brands and omni-channel capabilities that are essential to meet the needs of the modern consumer and win in today’s market environment. We welcome Harry’s entrepreneurial employees and look forward to working closely with Andy and Jeff, whose ingenuity and demonstrated success will enable us to take our U.S. business to the next level. We are excited about our future and the opportunities we have to deliver superior long-term shareholder returns as a next-generation CPG platform.”

“When we launched Harry’s six years ago our vision was to create a grooming brand that better met our needs as consumers, and over time, a CPG platform that creates brands people love across more categories,” added Katz-Mayfield and Raider in a statement. “Together with Edgewell, we see a significant opportunity to continue delivering on that vision, leveraging Edgewell’s advanced technology and global footprint alongside our customer-first approach, brand building expertise and omni-channel capabilities. We’re incredibly proud of the brands we’ve created and the team we’ve built, and have tremendous respect for Edgewell and its established brand portfolio. We look forward to what we can accomplish together.”