User:Idealogyltd/Sandbox

Company History

The brand was developed in 1960 by the Albion Group. In the late 1980s the business was acquired by Smith and Nephew. In June 2000, Smith and Nephew divested its consumer products division; a management buyout, led by CEO Geoff Percy and Finance Director Peter Hatherly, for £140m resulted in the formation of Accantia, owner of the Simple brand. Accantia rapidly grew the Simple brand, expanding into all the major toiletries & skincare categories.

In January 2004, a secondary buyout was completed. Following an unsolicited approach, the board of Accantia sold the company to Duke Street Capital for £225m. Accantia's existing senior management team remained in place.

Net sales for 2008 were £61.4m, up 11.4% over 2007 at £55.1m. Turnover for 2008 was £72m, up 9% over 2007 at £66m. In April 2009 Accantia, changed its name to Simple Health & Beauty Group Limited.

In December 2009, Simple Health & Beauty Group Limited was bought by the US company Alberto Culver [1] for £240 million.

Simple Health & Beauty Group Limited is based in West Midlands, UK, and has distributorships in the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and The People’s Republic of China.

The group also owns the Cidal and Wright's soap brands.

Simple now has products for almost every health and beauty need: facial skincare, [from teens to anti-wrinkle], sun protection, baby, and for men, as well as soaps, bath & shower, deodorants, talc and the range of Simple Derma products for very dry problem skin prone to eczema and dermatitis.