The Carlyle Group Acquires Hotel Amenities Supplier ADA Cosmetics

London - Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group (“Carlyle”) announced today that it has acquired ADA Cosmetics (“ADA”), an integrated supplier of hotel amenities and cosmetics, from Halder Private Equity (“Halder”). The management will continue to retain a minority stake. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Kehl, Germany with approximately 270 employees, ADA has established itself as the largest supplier of cosmetics and accessories to premium hotels in Europe and expanded its offering across Asia and the Middle East. Hotel customers include well-known luxury hotels such as Brenners Park Hotel (Baden Baden), Etihad Tower (Abu Dhabi), Badrutt’s Palace (St Moritz) and high-end chains including Relais & Chateau, Steigenberger and Mövenpick. The Company also serves many other 4 and 5 star hotels and chains.

From its production facility in Kehl, ADA covers all parts of the “value chain” from research & development, design, production, sales and marketing to logistics. ADA was originally founded in 1979 to sell customised soaps to German hotels. Today the company serves more than 15,000 hotels globally through a worldwide sales and distribution network in more than 50 countries. Between 2007 and 2010 the company increased sales through expanding its offering across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2010, ADA generated revenues of €43 million up from €38.5 million in 2009.

Commenting on the transaction, Wilhelm Könning, CEO of ADA said, “Carlyle has recognized that ADA is a high-quality business with significant growth potential, and their investment represents an exciting and progressive step for the Company. In partnership with Carlyle, we seek to leverage new opportunities in current and new markets, and to drive the continued growth and customer-focused innovation that the Company has consistently delivered.”

Carlyle has significant experience in the cosmetics, hotel and leisure industries. In the cosmetics sector, investments include Philosophy, Arabela Holding S.A. and Natural Beauty Ltd. Investments in the hotel and leisure sector include B&B Hotels, Orizonia (Spanish tour operator), Zhejiang Kaiyuan Hotel Management Co., Ltd (largest privately owned hotel chain in China) and CVC (largest tour operator in Latin America with more than 5,000 hotels).

Michael Wand, Managing Director of Carlyle, said, “We have been impressed by the high quality of ADA’s products and talented management team, as well as its broad customer base. We see both geographic expansion potential for the business and long term prospects in the sector, and are confident that the Company’s unique world-class production facility will also drive further growth. Carlyle has extensive experience in the management of cosmetics and leisure companies, and ADA is very well positioned to reap the benefits of our international resources and network, particularly in the hotel industry.”

Equity for this investment will come from Carlyle’s European growth capital fund (CETP II), a €530 million fund that closed in November 2008. Since 2002, the fund has acquired and invested in 21 small and medium sized companies, supporting their growth, expansion and business transformation initiatives.

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Contact

Katharina Gebsattel
+49 172 91 99 761
 
 

About ADA
Founded in Kehl, Germany in 1979 by Andreas Dahlmeyer, ADA Cosmetics is an integrated supplier of hotel amenities. The Company covers all parts of the value chain from R&D, design, production, sales and marketing to logistics. Main products sold are bathroom liquids and ADA’s in-house developed press+wash system (“P&W”). ADA focuses on independent, high end luxury hotels (4 & 5 star) in Europe and is the leading supplier of quality hotel cosmetics in Europe. Today the Company serves more than 15,000 customers (hotels) through a worldwide sales and distribution network (owning subsidiaries in Europe and China) in more than 50 countries, as well via its eCommerce platform. ADA also has a state-of-the-art production facility. www.ada-cosmetics.com

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $106.7 billion of assets under management committed to 84 funds as of December 31, 2010. Carlyle invests across three asset classes - corporate private equity, real assets and global market strategies - in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. Since 1987, the firm has invested $68.7 billion of equity in 1,035 transactions. The Carlyle Group employs more than 990 people in 19 countries. As of June 30, 2009, in the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $84 billion in revenue and employ more than 398,000 people around the world. Web: www.carlyle.com;  Video: www.youtube.com/OneCarlyle

About Halder Private Equity
Halder is a German based private equity group that invests primarily in German SMEs, specialising in management buy-outs of family businesses. A disciplined approach based on clear-cut investment criteria, strategic support of its portfolio firms and experience gained from 29 successful investments are cornerstones of its policy.

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