Inflexion led the buyout of brand creation and management company Vivona in February 2012, merging the US partner into the business and allowing for succession. We worked together for seven years to help the business accelerate growth through new markets in the UK and abroad.
Sector
Consumer
Headquarters
London, UK
Fund
Buyout
Investment date
February 2012 - May 2019
Status
Realised
Vivona Brands (formerly NPW) was founded in 1992 and delivers on-trend beauty, wellbeing and lifestyle brands to global fast-fashion and beauty-savvy consumers. Vivona’s products are sold internationally through partnerships with major tier 1 retailers including Ulta Beauty, CVS, Walgreens and Target in the US and Sephora, Superdrug and Boots in EMEA.
Under Inflexion’s stewardship, the business was repositioned for growth, mainly in the US and by introducing new products with a focus on the high growth wellness and beauty categories. Inflexion supported the development of the global infrastructure to grow the business internationally. We supported investment into internal systems, including procurement and warehousing, and we drew on our digital expertise to make improvements to Vivona’s digital infrastructure and operations. Sales increased, particularly in the US, and we continued to invest heavily into both front-office (sales and product development) as well as back-office resource.
Inflexion’s in-house country experts made us a good fit for management’s plans. We worked closely with the founders to bring in a new management team and introduced a highly experienced Chairman and latterly a CEO and FD. Our support office in China was instrumental in helping us to recruit a local sales manager and then driving the international sourcing capability of the group.
Simon Russell,
Executive Chairman, Vivona Brands
