Knowlton Development Corp. (KDC), a leading contract manufacturer of health and beauty-care products headquartered in Longueuil, Québec, announced the acquisition of Cosmetic Technologies on October 15. Cosmetic Technologies is a California-based cosmetics and personal care products contract manufacturer providing turnkey solutions from product concept to formulation, manufacturing, packaging and warehousing. This transaction follows the acquisition a week earlier of Kolmar, a New-York-based custom formulator and manufacturer of color cosmetics, personal care and skincare products; and the acquisition ten months ago, of ChemAid, a formulator and manufacturer of skincare, hair care and bath and body products based in New Jersey. The Cosmetic Technologies transaction is being financed by KDC’s parent company NOVACAP, through its NOVACAP Industries IV fund, in partnership with La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Investissement-Québec, Export Development Canada (EDC), Fondaction CSN and other institutional partners.
This financial activity strengthens KDC’s evolution as a leader in the supply of products and delivery solutions to prominent brands, and extends its manufacturing capabilities — and ability to produce smaller orders, starting at 5,000 units of high-end products, into the West Coast.
“Cosmetic Technologies is a relatively smaller acquisition than Kolmar, but it is nonetheless very strategic for KDC,” Michel Coté, KDC’s chairman and NOVACAP senior partner, said.
“The growing demand for our products has the potential to more than double the Company’s size in years to come”, said Ron Lewis, president and founder of Cosmetic Technologies, adding that the KDC "offers us the expertise, sales force, facilities and network to achieve this objective."
KDC plans to double its production by 2018, and reports that it is the only North American player with the critical mass needed to play a major role internationally. Only one year since its recapitalization, KDC has already invested more than $100 million in the development of the company, and in acquisitions such as Cosmetic Technologies, Kolmar and ChemAid.
KDC posititons itself as a "leader and total solution provider in the contract manufacturing fields of regulated and non-regulated personal care products with sales in excess of $500 million, five operating facilities run by a most talented and experienced team of professionals." In addition to its headquarters and main plant in Knowlton, Québec, the company has plants in Mississauga, Ontario; Lynchburg, Virginia and Columbus, Ohio. Overall, the company employs 2,200 people including nearly 900 in Knowlton.
