Revlon, Inc.
Acquisitions
3
Major Deals Covered
$1.5B
Disclosed Deal Value
Revlon's largest disclosed acquisition here is Elizabeth Arden for $870M in 2016. This page covers 3 major deals from 1987 to 2016, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Almay | 1987 | Undisclosed | Expanded Revlon into hypoallergenic and sensitive-skin beauty positioning. |
| The Colomer Group | 2013 | $660.0M | Re-entered professional beauty and salon channels. |
| Elizabeth Arden | 2016 | $870.0M | Added prestige skin care and fragrance assets. |
2016
$870M
Added prestige skin care and fragrance assets.
Gave Revlon greater exposure to Elizabeth Arden, fragrance, and prestige channels.
The acquisition broadened the portfolio but contributed to leverage and integration complexity.
2013
$660M
Re-entered professional beauty and salon channels.
Added Revlon Professional, CND and American Crew salon brands.
The deal broadened the portfolio but added complexity before the later restructuring.
1987
Expanded Revlon into hypoallergenic and sensitive-skin beauty positioning.
Added a differentiated mass beauty brand to the portfolio.
Almay remains part of Revlon's consumer brand portfolio.
Under Michelle Peluso, Revlon's growth plan has three parts reported in early 2026: sharper brand identities (Revlon as bold 'efficient glamour', Almay as clean no-makeup makeup) based on a 4,000-person consumer study in the U.S., Mexico and Australia; a broader fragrance pipeline led by former Estee Lauder executive Amber Garrison; and a regionalized supply chain, including a China R&D facility for Elizabeth Arden. Former CVS Health executive Mario Rivera joined as Chief Operations Officer in February 2026 to run procurement, manufacturing and logistics.
Revlon makes money by manufacturing beauty products and selling them wholesale to retailers and distributors, plus direct online sales. Its portfolio of more than 20 brands spans mass color cosmetics (Revlon, Almay), nail care (CND, Cutex, SinfulColors), hair care and color (Revlon ColorSilk, American Crew, Creme of Nature), Mitchum deodorant, and fragrance (Elizabeth Arden plus licenses such as Juicy Couture, Elizabeth Taylor and Christina Aguilera). Fragrance alone supplies roughly a quarter of sales, according to CEO Michelle Peluso. Mass products sell through drugstores, mass merchants and supermarkets; Elizabeth Arden sells through department stores, specialty and travel retail; CND and American Crew sell into salons and barbershops.
Revlon's largest acquisition was prestige beauty and skincare brand Elizabeth Arden, Inc., acquired in September 2016 in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $870 million (including assumed debt).
The acquisition was designed to diversify Revlon away from declining mass-market color cosmetics into high-margin prestige skincare (Ceramide, Prevage), luxury fragrances, and high-growth Asian travel retail and duty-free channels.
In October 2013, Revlon acquired The Colomer Group from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for $660 million in cash. The deal reunited Revlon with its former professional salon business and brought brands American Crew, Revlon Professional, and CND (Creative Nail Design) back into the fold.
In May 2016, Revlon acquired Cutex International's nail care business, reuniting the global rights to the historic nail polish remover and treatment brand, creating a unified worldwide nail care portfolio alongside SinfulColors and Revlon Nail Enamel.
Revlon acquired SinfulColors and Pure Ice in 2011 from Mirage Cosmetics for approximately $39 million to dominate the entry-level, trend-driven fast-fashion nail polish segment among teenage and Gen Z consumers.
Under CEO Michel Bergerac in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Revlon acquired pharmaceutical companies Technicon, Armour Pharmaceutical, and Barnes-Hind contact lens solutions. These healthcare assets were subsequently sold off by Ronald Perelman following his 1985 takeover.
Together, Colomer ($660M) and Elizabeth Arden ($870M) added more than $1.5 billion in high-yield debt to Revlon's balance sheet. When post-merger integration synergies failed to materialize quickly enough and global supply chains fractured in 2020-2022, debt service overwhelmed operational cash flow.
The deal brought prestigious designer and celebrity fragrance licenses including Britney Spears, Juicy Couture, Elizabeth Taylor (White Diamonds), John Varvatos, Giorgio Beverly Hills, and Halston into Revlon's fragrance portfolio.
Revlon periodically evaluated sales of its fragrance division and regional salon assets to raise cash, and divested minor non-core regional trademarks, but maintained its core brand pillars intact throughout the Chapter 11 process.
Post-emergence under private equity ownership, Revlon is not pursuing large-scale debt-fueled acquisitions. Instead, it focuses on organic brand rehabilitation, SKU optimization, selective licensing tuck-ins, and potential divestitures of non-performing assets.
Revlon consolidated distribution centers and manufacturing operations, integrating Elizabeth Arden's Roanoke, Virginia distribution hub with Revlon's flagship manufacturing facility in Oxford, North Carolina, realizing over $140 million in annualized run-rate cost synergies.
Over the decades, Revlon was frequently rumored as an acquisition target for conglomerates like Coty, L'Oréal, or private equity roll-ups, but Ronald Perelman's controlling voting share prevented hostile takeovers until the 2022 bankruptcy wiped out insider equity.
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