Carlyle agrees to sell ADA Cosmetics to Ardian

Ardian has agreed to acquire ADA Cosmetics International from The Carlyle Group, the firm announced Thursday. No financial terms were disclosed. Based in Kiehl, Germany, ADA Cosmetics is a maker of hotel cosmetics.

According to Ardian, this is the eighth investment from Ardian’s third expansion fund, which closed at 500 million euros in March. And, as part of this deal, ADA Cosmetics’ management have again taken a minority stake in the company. This internal investment is in addition to the minority stake the company management previously acquired when Carlyle took over, confirms an Ardian spokesperson.

On his firm’s acquisition by Ardian, ADA Cosmetics CEO Wilhelm B. Könning commented, “In the past four years, we have significantly expanded our position as market leader for high quality hotel cosmetics in Europe, achieving a market share of 35% in the key German speaking region. Together with Ardian, we now want to strengthen our position in the wider European and Asian markets using our innovative products.”

Founded in 1979, ADA Cosmetics has around 300 employees and seven subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It also has a global distribution network and supplies to nearly 15,000 customers in more than 50 countries.

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