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Harry's Advertising Mergers and Acquisitions

Shaving brand Harry's sells to Edgewell in latest $1bn+ DTC purchase

By Andrew Blustein, Reporter

May 9, 2019 | 2 min read

Edgewell Personal Care is getting into the direct-to-consumer (DTC) craze with the $1.37bn purchase of Harry's shaving brand.

Harry's sells for $1.37bn

Harry's sells for $1.37bn

The deal sees Edgewell become the latest heritage company banking on DTC innovation. Unilever snatched up Harry's competitor Dollar Shave Club for a $1bn in 2016, and P&G bought health and beauty brand Walker & Company in late 2018.

The maker of Schick and Wilkinson razors is looking to revatalize its portfolio of brands. Edgewell recently reported its second-quarter sales dropped by nearly 9% year-over-year.

"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, Edgewell's president and chief executive officer.

"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."

In a company statement, Edgewell said it wants to "leverage Harry's direct-to-consumer capabilities to drive online growth".

Launched in 2013, Harry's started out as a men's personal care brand and has since expanded to include women's products. Harry's has recently moved into offline retail, now selling products in Target and Boots stores.

Rather than buying into the DTC marketplace like Edgewell, L’Oreal is focusing its efforts in-house with the recent launch of DTC hair dye brand Color&Co.

Harry's Advertising Mergers and Acquisitions

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