A series of announcements following, one may recall, the takeover, a few months ago, of one of the largest U.S. player in the industry, Kirker Enterprises, by the group, also American, RPM International. New deal of the cards, concentrations, this sector continues to be highly coveted. And for good reason!
The consumption of nail polish has exploded over the last ten years in the world but also in France. The annual growth rates of this product are quite enough to make any entrepreneurs’ mouths water. We are witnessing a real “nail polish mania”, with an increasing number of buyers (20% of French women, for example), and with increasing quantities (2.4 units per buyer).
Intercos and Fareva: two new players!
On the side of the Intercos group, the takeover of its colleague, DropNail is not a surprise. Dario Ferrari, the CEO of the Italian group, had never made a secret of his interest in the sector. Nail polish remains an important niche in the make-up sector. Drop Nail srl is actually a new player in nail polish who has established itself two years ago in the area of Crema. Its 1,500 sqm production unit boasts to date, a production capacity of 1,800 tonnes/year or 180 million units/year. For Dario Ferrari, “with the arrival of this company specialized in the production of nail polish, we will be able to fully use the synergies that exist between us. DropNail will thus be able to benefit from both our global industrial presence (Europe, United States, Asia, Brazil), where we are going to invest in filling lines, and also from Intercos’ capacity for research and development which, as you know, is significant. As far as we are concerned, we can rely on a very effective industrial tool whose capacity is fort the time being totally satisfying. We can also take advantage of their good commercial presence in Brazil.”
As far as the French group Fareva is concerned, Bernard Fraisse, its CEO, considers that the acquisition of Chromavis mostly enable the company “to play a significant role in make-up with the recognized expertise of Chromavis in this field.” Indeed, he adds, “nail polish only accounts for 30% of its turnover.” In the future, Chromavis will be in charge of the group’s make-up activity. “There are many synergies, like in particular a complementarity of the customer base or the industrial sites of Fareva and the sales locations of Chromavis. In addition, through this acquisition, Fareva clearly state its objectives of being present and to invest the world over in innovation and R&D.”
A highly competitive sector
As for the two other main players in the market among which the French company Fiabila which achieves the biggest worldwide consolidated turnover in nail polishes, but also with the Luxembourg-based company IL Cosmetics, investments have been on going over the last few months.
In early 2012, Pierre Miasnik, the CEO of Fiabila had announced the opening of a new packaging site of 3,500 sqm in France, in Le Perray en Yvelines, hosting both a filling area equipped with high-speed filling lines but also two storage areas, one for packaging items and the other for flammable raw materials. In the United States, the company had just acquired a second plant due to be operational in May 2013 with on top of it, an extension of the site in January next year. Two joint actions, which have enabled the French company to increase twofold its operations across the Atlantic. Third action, in India where Fiabila just completed the construction of its second factory (3,500 sqm). And eventually, just one year ago, the French firm confirmed, through the voice of its CEO Pierre Miasnik, the establishment of a manufacturing and packaging unit for nail polishes in Kunshan, China. A commissioning which was effective at the beginning of this year. An operation carried out as part of a joint venture with the Shya Hsin group. And Pierre Miasnik insists: “our investments only concern nail polish and no other product!”
For its part, IL Cosmetics has also accelerated the pace of its investments with, among others, the creation of a new entity in the United Kingdom and an increased in R&D investments. The Luxembourg-based group, is building on the sharp increase of its activity (+ 25% in 2012, and more than 20% on average over the past years) to continue the investment program set up in 2012. The R&D division has seen its investments increase threefold in 2013 and the group has built a new laboratory in Luxembourg. In addition, the production site in Luxembourg was expanded with a new manufacturing unit to address the company’s increase in activity.
