Alberto-Culver acquires CosmoProf

The move gives Alberto-Culver an increased presence in the heavily populated and economically important region, taking in the crucial urban areas represented in the area.

Alberto-Culver​ president and CEO Howard Bernick said that "CosmoProf is an important addition to Beauty Systems Group, giving us new geography in the very important Los Angeles, California market, as well as Hawaii, in addition to more stores and salespeople that will strengthen BSG's existing positions in California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Utah, Nevada and Arizona. CosmoProf will add 93 stores and 135 salespeople to the Beauty Systems Group, bringing its total to over 700 stores and 1,300 professional sales consultants.​

CosmoProf's annual sales are near the $100 million (€75m) level, but after closing, Beauty Systems sales should be over $900 million, with the acquisition being slightly accretive to Alberto- Culver Company earnings in fiscal 2005."​

Beauty Systems Group is run in partnership with global cosmetic giants L'Oreal and Proctor & Gamble, for which it is a primary distributor and retailer of both companies' products in the US regions it is represented in. Beauty Systems is a network of stores and professional sales consultants selling exclusive professional beauty care brands such as Matrix, Redken, L'Oreal Professionnel, Paul Mitchell, Wella, Graham Webb and Sebastian to salon professionals.

The acquisition is a big step for the growth of the company and is also one it has been eyeing for some time. It brings Beauty Systems one step closer towards achieving full national service distributor status, a goal it is aiming to achieve with further long-term acquisitions.

The deal also complements the December 2003 acquisition of West Coast Beauty Supply, another distributor that operated in the same region, but with a smaller geographic reach. Further acquisitions are now expected to concentrate on other US regions where the company is not currently represented, including the Mid-West.