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Company type | Privately held |
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Industry | Hair styling |
Founded | January 2001 |
Founder | Martin Penny, Gary Douglas and Robert Powls |
Headquarters | Bridgewater Place, Leeds, United Kingdom |
Revenue | ![]() |
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Parent | Wella |
Website | ghdhair |
Good Hair Day, abbreviated to ghd, is a manufacturer of hair care products based in Leeds, United Kingdom. [1] The company is known for its hair straightening irons and is sold in over 50,000 salons worldwide. [2] [3] The company was the first hair tool sponsor of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. [4] [5]
Martin Penny, Gary Douglas, Susan Powls, and Robert Powls founded ghd in January 2001. [6] [7] The three collaborated to buy the rights to a hair straightening iron from an inventor in South Korea. [8] The brand grew organically from word of mouth, and began their first advertising campaign two years later. [9] [10] By then, hair salons had purchased £12 million of stock, against a forecast of between £3 million and £4 million. [8]
In May 2004, ghd entered the North American market, which helped generate worldwide sales of £37 million for the year. [11] In July 2006, The Jemella Group, which owned the ghd brand, was bought by Lloyds Development Capital for £55 million. [6] It was sold eleven months later to Montagu Private Equity for £160 million. [12] in February 2013, Lion Capital, a British private equity firm, purchased ghd for approximately £300 million. [13]
By March 2013, the company had sales totalling over £150 million, more than doubling since 2007, selling over two million styling irons through 50,000 salons worldwide. [3] In 2016, Coty bought ghd for an estimated £420 million from the private equity firm Lion Capital LLP. [14] The sale was completed on 21 November 2016. [15]
On December 1, 2020, Coty completed sale of Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands stake to KKR for $2.5bn in cash whilst retaining 40% stake in the standalone company. [16] On October 1, 2021, Coty announced that it would sell approximately 9% of its shares to KKR for $426.5 million. The deal cuts Coty's stake in Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands to around 30.6%. [17]
On November 8, 2021, Coty has agreed to sell an approximate 4.7% stake in Wella to KKR in exchange for the redemption of approximately 56% of KKR's remaining convertible preferred shares in Coty. The deal reduces Coty's total shareholding in Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands to approximately 25.9%. KKR will continue to have a 2.4% ownership stake in Coty on an as-converted basis. [18]
The brand has attracted endorsements from a variety of celebrities including the singer Katy Perry who became the face of ghd in December 2011. [27] [28]
Since 2004, ghd has raised approximately £2.5 million for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity. [29] The company produces a limited edition pink hair iron every year, with £10 of the sale price being donated in support the charity. [30] In January 2010, ghd partnered with charity "Mom It Forward" and SafeHouse Denver, a women's shelter that serves victims of domestic violence and their children, in an event at Sephora. [31]