Arden sale to offer FFI a UK presence

Consumer goods giant Unilever is to sell its Elizabeth Arden business to US-based FFI Fragrances for $225m (£155m) giving the perfume company a UK presence.

The brands involved in the sale to FFI Fragrances include skincare brands Ceramides, Millennium and Visible Difference and Elizabeth Arden cosmetics line. The deal offers the company, which already has 230 fragrances, an entry into the cosmetics and skincare markets as well. FFI has also acquired the perfume White Shoulder as part of the deal.

Following the deal, Unilever will close a factory in Acton, London that manufactures Elizabeth Arden products laying off 220 factory workers.

The remaining Elizabeth Arden UK employees, including the marketers, will automatically be transferred to FFI fragrances. The Elizabeth Arden business has a UK marketing budget of £2m.

The sale comes in the wake of Unilever’s decision to divest businesses that failed to meet its strategic requirements.