Helen of Troy Limited

Last updated

Helen of Troy Limited
Company type Public
Nasdaq:  HELE
S&P 400 Component
Founded1968 in El Paso, Texas, U.S.
FounderGerald Rubin
Headquarters Hamilton, Bermuda
El Paso, Texas (operational)
Key people
Noel M. Geoffroy, CEO Brian Grass, CFO
ProductsHousewares, Health and Home, and Beauty products
RevenueUS$2.22 billion (2021)
US$223.9 million (2018)
Number of employees
1903 (2023)
Website https://www.helenoftroy.com

Helen of Troy Limited is an American publicly traded designer, developer and worldwide marketer of consumer brand-name housewares, health and home, and beauty products under owned and licensed brands. It is the parent corporation of OXO International Ltd., Kaz, Inc., Steel Technologies, LLC, and Idelle Labs, Ltd, among others. [1] The company is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, with U.S. operations headquartered in El Paso, Texas. The company is named after the historical or mythic figure Helen of Troy.

Contents

History

Helen of Troy Limited began as a wig store in Downtown El Paso in 1968 and expanded into the hair appliance business in 1975 by supplying hair salons with hair dryers and curling irons. In 1980, the son of the company's founder Louis Rubin, Jerry Rubin, entered into a successful licensing agreement with Vidal Sassoon. [2] Since then, the company's growth has come through years of acquiring rights to use well-known global brands in the health and home, housewares, beauty and nutritional supplements categories, or by acquiring brands and companies outright. [3] Those transactions have made Helen of Troy a force in the personal-care products market.

The company underwent a notable tax inversion when it reorganized into a Bermuda company in 1993. [4] This inversion prompted new federal legislation tightening the rules on inversion, which are colloquially known as the "Helen of Troy Rules." [5]

In June 2004, the company paid $273.2 million for OXO International, a New York designer and maker of household tools. [6] In January 2011, the company announced it has completed the acquisition of Kaz, Inc. for $271.5 million. Kaz provides consumer products serving health care and home environment needs including body thermometers, humidifiers, fans, and other products primarily under the Vicks, Braun and Honeywell brands, as well as products under owned brands like Stinger, Softheat, and Kaz. [6] [7] In January 2012, Kaz acquired the PUR water purification products business from The Procter & Gamble Company. [8]

In 2014, the company implemented its succession plan, with Jerry Rubin stepping down as CEO, and the appointment of Julien R. Mininberg as chief executive officer, effective March 1, 2014. Mr. Mininberg had served as chief executive officer and president of Helen of Troy's Healthcare/Home Environment segment. [3]

In March 2016, the company acquired Steel Technologies, LLC, which does business under the brand name Hydro Flask, for approximately $210 million in cash, subject to certain customary closing adjustments. [9]

In December 2021, the company bought Osprey Packs, Inc for $414 Million. [10]

Company structure

Since that time, the company has grown organically and through acquisition and operates in three reportable business segments. The company divested its former Nutritional Supplements business in December 2017. [11] By order of sales contribution, these are Health & Home, Housewares, and Beauty. Helen of Troy's sales were $1.49 billion in Fiscal Year 2018 (on a continuing operations basis, as reported). [12]

Helen of Troy's corporate office Helen of Troy Limited corporate office.jpg
Helen of Troy's corporate office

As of February 28, 2018, the company employed approximately 1,489 full-time employees worldwide. The company's US headquarters and Shared Services Center is in a unique northwest El Paso building, and the company has two distribution facilities in Olive Branch and Southaven, Mississippi. The company also has offices in Bend, Oregon; New York City; Mexico City; Toronto; Sheffield; Bussigny-près-Lausanne; Macau; Shenzhen; and Hong Kong.

The company contracts with unaffiliated manufacturers, primarily in China and Mexico, to manufacture a significant portion of its finished goods for the Beauty appliances and accessories, Housewares, Healthcare, Water Filtration, and Home Environment product categories. The North American region of the grooming, skin and hair care category of the Beauty segment source most of their products from U.S. manufacturers. For fiscal years 2018, 2017, and 2016, finished goods manufactured by vendors in the Asia comprised approximately 74%, 71%, and 70%, respectively, of total finished goods purchased.

Brands

Helen of Troy Limited, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, imports, markets, and distributes brand-name products in three reportable business segments: Health & Home, Housewares, and Beauty.

The Health and Home segment offers healthcare and home comfort products including thermometers, blood pressure monitors and humidifiers, faucet mount water filtration systems and pitcher-based water filtration systems, air purifiers, heaters, fans, humidifiers and dehumidifiers under the PUR, Honeywell, Braun, and Vicks brands.

The Housewares segment offers food and beverage preparation tools and gadgets, storage containers and organization products, household cleaning products, shower organization and bathroom accessories, feeding and drinking products, child seating, cleaning tools and nursery accessories, insulated water bottles, jugs, drinkware, travel mugs and food containers under the OXO, Good Grips, Hydro Flask, Soft Works, and OXO tot brands.

The Beauty segment offers hair care appliances (both retail and professional), grooming brushes, tools and decorative hair accessories, liquid hair styling, treatment and conditioning products under the Hot Tools and Drybar brands.

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References

  1. ↑ "Form 10-K For the fiscal year ended February 28, 2018 - Helen of Troy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "Helen of Troy Corporation | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 Kolenc, Vic (16 January 2014). "El Paso's Helen of Troy founder Gerald Rubin leaves $1 billion-plus company - El Paso Times". El Paso Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Herzfeld, Mindy (16 June 2014). "News Analysis: What's Next in Inversion Land?". TaxAnalyst.com. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Rules that Launched a Thousand Deals?". cfo.com. 18 August 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Momentum: New brands put El Paso company Helen of Troy on path to $1 billion -". El Paso Times. 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Helen of Troy Limited Announces Closing of Kaz, Inc. Acquisition -". PRNewswire. 3 January 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023.
  8. ↑ "Helen of Troy Limited - Overview". investor.helenoftroy.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Bend's Hydro Flask is acquired for $210 million". 1 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "Sale of Osprey Packs marks yet another public-company acquisition of a Colorado-raised outdoor company". The Colorado Sun. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Helen of Troy Announces the Sale of Healthy Directions LLC". www.businesswire.com. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Helen of Troy Limited Reports Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2018 Results" (PDF). 26 April 2018.
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