Proctor & Gamble (Gillette) Purchases Art Of Shaving

I’m still trying to get more information but it appears that P&G has purchased AOS. Excerpts from Advertising Age:

Procter & Gamble Co., which recently made the phrase “win with men” an incessant company mantra, is now fully armed to target the premium male shopper with its Monday purchase of the prestige grooming firm The Art of Shaving.

Details of the deal were not disclosed; however, industry sources estimate P&G likely paid in the $60 million range for the manufacturer and retailer of shave and skin care items, twice the Miami-based firm’s 2008 annual sales. The Art of Shaving will continue to operate out of South Florida as a wholly owned subsidiary, where it was created 13 years ago.Art of Shaving’s founders, husband-and-wife team Eric Malka and Myriam Zaoui, intend to remain “very involved” with the business, with Malka focusing on the retail side and Zaoui acting as a consultant, Malka said….

While P&G has a firm hold in mass, The Art of Shaving steers P&G firmly into prestige, with its 36 retail outlets and 600 retail partners, which include Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, where it will go up against Molton Brown, Jack Black and Acqua di Parma. While dominantly a U.S. brand, Art of Shaving also has international distribution through strategic retail partnerships with Harvey Nichols in the United Kingdom and Bon Marche in France, for example. Bergh cited immediate growth potential in Art of Shaving’s store business, as well as an opportunity to tap knowledge from its burgeoning Internet business (it accounts for 10 percent of overall sales). “On the P&G side [Internet] is tiny, so we can learn a lot there,” said Bergh….