Wella
| HFC Prestige International Germany GmbH
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1880 |
| Seat | Darmstadt , Germany |
| management | Ralf Billharz, Guillaume Tardy |
| Number of employees | 382 (2009/2010) |
| sales | 86.2 million euros (2009/2010) |
| Branch | Consumer goods |
| Website | www.wella.com |
Wella , based in Darmstadt, is a German cosmetics company. Hair care products and hairdressing equipment are sold worldwide under the brand name Wella . Wella is known for its trademark , which shows a stylized, long-haired woman's head in profile, whose hair is blown by the wind, such as a hair dryer. Since May 2020, Wella has been majority owned by the financial investor KKR ; The American perfume and cosmetics company Coty is a minority shareholder .
history
The beginnings of Wella go back to a business founded in 1880 by the then 26-year-old hairdresser Franz Ströher. The company's first sales success was a waterproof hair tulle invented in 1900 . In 1904 Franz Ströher opened his first factory. The brand "Wella" could be the sons of Ströher, the merchant Karl Ströher and the hairdresser Georg Ströher, 1925 for their permanent wave devices and related beauty products protect. In 1930 Franz Ströher AG was founded in Rothenkirchen , whose headquarters were relocated to the new plant in Apolda in 1937 . While equipment production took place in Apolda, hair care products remained in Rothenkirchen. From 1939 armaments such as whip antennas were produced in the factories . Forced laborers were also used. In 1945 the expropriation and dismantling in Apolda followed.
The company headquarters were initially relocated to Hünfeld in East Hesse and then to Darmstadt in South Hesse. The main factory in Rothenkirchen continued to produce for the GDR market as "VEB Wella", which was part of VVB Sapotex. From 1956, who called state-owned operation "VEB Londa ," the more used the Wella trademark but to the 1959th
As of 1950, the company operates as Wella Aktiengesellschaft in West Germany. From 1983 the preferred shares of Wella AG were traded on the stock exchange. In 1987 the company Parfum Rochas acquired . After reunification, Wella took over the old headquarters in 1990. This is where the “Londa” brand is produced today. In 1994, the Cologne-based Muelhens KG with the brand " 4711 " was bought.
In 2003, Wella was taken over by the consumer goods group Procter & Gamble for around 6.6 billion euros . In September 2005 Procter & Gamble held 95% of Wella shares. The heiress and great-granddaughter of the founder, Claudia Ebert, built a luxury hotel on Sylt from part of her sales proceeds ; With her foundation she supports the Princess Margaret Children's Hospital in Darmstadt. The heiress Sylvia Ströher also sold her shares in Procter & Gamble. The other two branches of the family are Gisa Sander and Pohl . Wella ran its own museum in the former company headquarters in Darmstadt . In November 2010, Procter & Gamble announced that it would close the Darmstadt plant by the end of 2014. The 1000 employees are to be distributed between the Schwalbach and Kronberg locations . Germany as a research location should continue to exist.
Procter & Gamble sold Wella to Coty in 2015 . After that, the headquarters of the Wella division with 1000 employees was moved back to the old site in Darmstadt . In May 2020, Coty sold a 60% stake in Wella and other brands in the field of professional cosmetics and hair products to the financial investor KKR ; this is being done in a strategic partnership in which Coty will remain a minority shareholder in these activities and KKR will also acquire shares in Coty.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.wella.com/de-DE/impressum.aspx
- ↑ a b Electronic Federal Gazette, February 14, 2011, annual financial statements as of June 30, 2010
- ↑ Wella - brand description
- ↑ Trademark register - original trademark
- ↑ Peter Engels: Wella AG , Stadtlexikon Darmstadt, accessed on August 29, 2018.
- ↑ "Sylt can thank Claudia Ebert and her son Simon Ebert for investing over 50 million euros on Germany's most elite island"
- ↑ http://www.claudia-ebert-stiftung.de/
- ↑ Procter buys for 92.25 per share , March 18, 2003
- ↑ Bye, bye Darmstadt - Wella is moving - Report from n-tv on November 16, 2010
- ↑ P&G sells Wella to Reimanns Coty, Henkel is subject to - manager magazin . In: manager magazin . ( manager-magazin.de [accessed on March 11, 2018]).
- ^ Echo Newspapers GmbH: Wella return: "Great news for Darmstadt" . ( echo-online.de [accessed on March 11, 2018]).
- ↑ ARD: KKr takes over Wella majority , May 11, 2020