Okay, so I got curious the other day about Wella. You know, the hair stuff people. I see their products around, used some myself way back when, and it just popped into my head: who actually runs the show there? Like, who owns Wella these days? It feels like one of those brands that’s been around forever.
My first thought was, “It’s probably one of those giant mega-corps, right?” Like the ones that own everything from shampoo to snacks. So, I decided to do a little digging. Fired up the computer, you know the drill.
Started simple, just searched for “who owns Wella”. And yeah, right away, things got a bit twisty. Lots of names popped up. I saw Procter & Gamble mentioned quite a bit. Okay, so P&G used to own them. That made sense, they have a ton of beauty brands. But the search results hinted that wasn’t the full story anymore.
So I kept looking. Found some articles talking about deals and sales. It seemed like P&G sold off a chunk of their beauty brands a few years back. Wella was part of that deal, along with others like Clairol and OPI. This big package went off to another company.
Digging Deeper
Now, the name that kept coming up was Coty. Okay, Coty, another big player in the beauty world. So, Coty bought Wella from P&G. Simple enough? Well, hold on.
As I read more recent stuff, it seemed like things changed again. There was talk about Coty selling a majority stake in Wella. This was getting more complicated than I thought. It wasn’t just one simple answer. It’s like trying to follow who’s dating who in a celebrity magazine sometimes.
I had to piece together bits from different news reports and summaries. Found mentions of a big investment firm getting involved. The name KKR kept appearing. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. That sounds like a serious money group.
Turns out, Coty did sell a big piece of Wella, the professional beauty and retail hair businesses, to KKR. So, Coty still owns a part of it, but KKR holds the majority. They formed a separate company, basically, often just called the Wella Company.
So, the short answer after all that digging?
- P&G used to own it.
- Then Coty bought it.
- Now, KKR owns the majority stake, with Coty keeping a smaller piece.
It’s kind of a journey, right? Not just a straightforward A-to-B ownership. Makes you realize how these big brands change hands behind the scenes. Anyway, that scratched my itch. Now I know who’s steering the ship over at Wella, or at least, who holds the biggest paddle.
