Edgewell Personal Care Co. which owns Schick and Wilkinson Sword razor brands is adding Harry's Inc. to its list of subsidiaries.
The Missouri-based company, which also has headquarters in Shelton, announced Thursday that it is preparing to buy the New York-based startup in a $1.37 billion cash-and-stock deal.
“With everything, the timing has to be right, and in this case, the timing is right for this combination,” said Edgewell president and CEO Rod Little, during a Thursday earnings call.
The company will pay roughly 79 percent of the total value of the transaction in cash, while the remaining financing will be paid in common stocks.
Harry's shareholders will own approximately 11 percent of Edgewell once the transaction is complete.
Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg Partners are financial advisers to Edgewell, while Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz served as the company's legal adviser.
Centerview Partners was the financial adviser to Harry's and Latham and Watkins and O'Melveny and Myers served as its legal advisers
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.
During a Thursday morning conference call, Little acknowledged that a disconnect with consumers over the years has slowed sales.
“Consumer needs, habits, ways of shopping have changed dramatically over the last decade,” he said. “Brands need to be consumer-centric, connect with consumers and satisfy their changing needs and habits and also provide a great experience wherever and whenever the consumer is ready to engage.”
Edgewell wants to fix that, in part, with acquisitions of companies like Harry’s, the company said.
The New York startup focused on a direct-to-consumer online platform that sold razors and shaving creams through a monthly subscription service.
"When we launched Harry's six years ago, our vision was to create a grooming brand that better met our needs as consumers, and over time, a (consumer packaged product) platform that creates brands people love across more categories,” said Harry’s Co-founders and CEOs Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider in a statement.
Since its 2013 launch, Harry’s has branched into different personal care product lines and expanded. It owns and operates its own razor factory in Eisfeld, Germany, and employs more than 900 people across the globe.
Edgewell operates in more than 50 markets globally and employs roughly 6,000 people.
While it was not made clear how the acquisition would affect Harry’s employees, the Shelton company said it plans to leverage the startup's background in direct-to-consumer sales and brand marketing to improve Edgewell’s performance with customers.
Katz-Mayfield and Raider are expected to join Edgewell’s executive team when the deal closes next year, serving as co-presidents of U.S. operations. Little will lead the combined company.
"The combination of Edgewell and Harry's is a pivotal step forward in further transforming our organization and strengthening our competitive position and ability to drive sustained growth and value creation," Little said in a press release.
Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com