The Edgewell Personal Care origin story is not one of entrepreneurial founding but of corporate separation and brand aggregation—a company built from the personal care assets that Energizer Holdings accumulated over two decades before spinning them off in 2015. The lineage of Edgewell's brands, however, stretches back centuries. Wilkinson Sword was founded in 1772 in London as a manufacturer of swords, bayonets, and later razor blades, establishing one of the oldest brand heritages in consumer goods. Jacob Schick founded the Magazine Repeating Razor Company in 1926, inventing the first electric shaver and later expanding into manual razors. Schick introduced the first stainless steel blade in 1962, a milestone in shaving technology. Playtex was established as International Latex Corporation in 1932, launching the Playtex brand and later expanding into feminine care, infant care, and sun care. Banana Boat was founded in 1974 and Hawaiian Tropic in 1969, both becoming iconic sun care brands. The modern Edgewell story begins in 1999, when Ralston Purina Company incorporated Energizer Holdings as a subsidiary and then spun it off as an independent public company on April 1, 2000. Energizer's initial focus was batteries and portable lighting—the original Rayovac business—but the company pursued a strategy of acquiring personal care brands to diversify beyond the commoditizing battery category. In 2003, Energizer acquired the Schick-Wilkinson Sword business from Pfizer for approximately $930 million, adding the #2 global wet shave franchise to the portfolio. In 2007, Energizer acquired Playtex Products for $1.9 billion, bringing Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones, and the Playtex feminine care and infant care lines into the fold. In 2009, Energizer acquired the Edge and Skintimate shave preparation brands. In 2010, Energizer acquired American Safety Razor for $301 million, adding the Personna brand and private-label razor capabilities. By 2015, Energizer's personal care business had grown to approximately $2.5 billion in annual revenue, but the combination of batteries and personal care created strategic complexity and limited valuation multiples. On July 1, 2015, Energizer completed the tax-free spin-off of its Household Products business (batteries and portable lighting) into a separate publicly traded company, retaining the Personal Care business and renaming itself Edgewell Personal Care Company. Shareholders received one share of New Energizer for each share of the historical combined company, and Edgewell began trading on the NYSE under the ticker EPC. The separation created a pure-play personal care company with a portfolio of over 25 brands and operations in more than 50 countries. In the years following the spin-off, Edgewell pursued a strategy of selective acquisitions to modernize its portfolio and add digital capabilities. In 2016, the company acquired Bulldog Skincare for Men, a UK-based natural men's grooming brand, for an undisclosed amount estimated in the low tens of millions. In 2018, Edgewell acquired Jack Black, a premium men's grooming and skincare brand, for approximately $90 million. In 2019, the company announced a $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry's, the DTC razor startup, in a deal that would have transformed Edgewell's digital capabilities and competitive position in wet shave. However, in February 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the acquisition on antitrust grounds, arguing that the merger would eliminate competition in the wet shave razor market. Edgewell terminated the deal in February 2020, paying a $56 million breakup fee and pivoting to smaller acquisitions. In 2020, the company acquired Cremo, a fast-growing masstige grooming brand, for approximately $235 million. In November 2021, Edgewell acquired Billie Inc., a digital-native women's shaving and body care brand, for $310 million in cash. Billie had raised $35 million in total funding and generated approximately $90 million in revenue at acquisition. The deal closed in January 2022 and represented Edgewell's most significant acquisition since the Harry's failure. The Billie acquisition was particularly strategic because it came after Procter & Gamble's own attempt to acquire Billie was blocked by the FTC in December 2020—Edgewell succeeded where P&G failed, acquiring a brand with strong digital capabilities and a younger demographic that complements Edgewell's legacy Schick and Wilkinson Sword brands. The company's recent history has been defined by operational challenges and portfolio reshaping. The Banana Boat benzene recalls in July 2022 and January 2023 created regulatory and reputational headwinds. The Wet Ones manufacturing plant fire in December 2023 disrupted operations and cost $12.2 million. The Feminine Care segment's persistent decline—FY2024 sales down 10.0% and profit down 42.1%—culminated in the November 2025 Essity divestiture. Throughout these challenges, CEO Rod Little has maintained a focus on margin improvement, debt reduction, and strategic discipline, delivering double-digit adjusted EPS growth in FY2023 and FY2024 despite top-line stagnation.