Duke Street Capital seeks a Simple sale of skincare firm
SKINCARE brand Simple has been slapped with a price tag of £250m by its private equity owner Duke Street Capital.
Duke Street – which declined to comment – acquired Simple in early 2004 in a secondary buyout for £229m – but it is now looking to sell it following a number of unsolicited approaches for the skincare brand.
Duke Street originally bought Accantia, which comprises Simple and tampon brand Lil-lets, from ABN Amro Capital in for £229m.
Accantia was previously owned by medical group Smith & Nephew, who subsequently sold it on.
Duke Street has since disposed of Lil-lets, to concentrate on Simple which has now moved from being the number four to the number three female facial skin care brand in the UK by sales and number one by units sold. In the 12 months to 31 December 2008, Simple reported a turnover of £72m.
Chief executive Geoff Percy and finance director Peter Hatherly look set to profit from the future sale of the business.
It is believed Duke Street has appointed US investment bank Goldman Sachs to run the auction.