By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
NEW YORK (AP) — Revlon, a cosmetics maker that broke racial limitations and dictated magnificence developments for a lot of the final century, has filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety.
The firm has been a mainstay on retailer cabinets since its founding 90 years in the past in New York City because it oversaw a steady of family names, from Almay to Elizabeth Arden.
Revlon didn’t hold tempo with altering tastes, nonetheless, sluggish to observe ladies as they traded flashy crimson lipstick for extra muted tones within the Nineties.
In addition to shedding market share to massive rivals like Procter & Gamble, newcomer beauty traces from Kylie Jenner and different celebrities efficiently capitalized on the huge social media following of the well-known faces that fronted the merchandise.
Already weighed down by rising debt, Revlon’s issues solely intensified with the pandemic as lipstick gave approach to a brand new period in trend, this one that includes medical-grade masks.
Sales dropped 21% in 2020, the primary 12 months of the pandemic, although these gross sales rebounded 9.2% in its most up-to-date reporting 12 months with vaccines widespread. In the newest quarter that led to March, gross sales rose almost 8%, however nonetheless lag pre-pandemic ranges in extra of $2.4 billion a 12 months.
The international provide chain disruptions which might be hobbling a whole bunch of worldwide corporations in current months had been an excessive amount of for Revlon, which barely escaped chapter in late 2020 by persuading bondholders to increase its maturing debt.
There could also be extra company restructurings within the client merchandise sector forward with the specter of an financial recession and the rising prices of borrowing cash.
Revlon mentioned Thursday that upon courtroom approval, it expects to obtain $575 million in financing from its present lenders, which can enable it to maintain its day-to-day operations operating.
“Today’s filing will allow Revlon to offer our consumers the iconic products we have delivered for decades, while providing a clearer path for our future growth,” mentioned Debra Perelman, who was named Revlon president and CEO in 2018.
Her father, billionaire Ron Perelman, backs the corporate by MacAndrews & Forbes, which acquired the enterprise by a hostile takeover within the late Eighties. Revlon went public in 1996.
Perelman mentioned that demand for its merchandise stay sturdy, however its “challenging capital structure” supplied restricted skill to navigate.
During its heyday within the twentieth century, Revlon trailed solely Avon in gross sales. It now holds the twenty second spot amongst cosmetics makers, in line with a current rating by trend commerce journal WWD.
Revlon turned the primary magnificence firm to function a Black mannequin in 1970, Naomi Sims. In the Eighties, the corporate energized the cosmetics business by placing each well-known and yet-to-be-discovered fashions like Iman, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington entrance and heart, promising to make all ladies “unforgettable.”
Perelman, in an interview with The Associated Press late final 12 months earlier than international provide chains locked up, mentioned she was optimistic in regards to the future. The firm doubled-down throughout the pandemic to get extra on-line with providers like one-on-one digital consultations by its Elizabeth Arden line, she mentioned.
Perelman additionally mentioned that the corporate was studying from movie star launches to be extra nimble and that Revlon had regained market share.
None of Revlon’s worldwide working subsidiaries are included within the proceedings, aside from Canada and the United Kingdom. The submitting was made within the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York,
The firm listed property and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion, in line with its chapter submitting.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com”