Small but steady M&A activity continues; personal care suppliers boost product and technology offerings.(specialties)(mergers and acquisitions)

There has been some M&A activity among suppliers to the personal care industry, but not as much as there has been among their customers lately, says Gillian Morris, analyst at Kline & Co. (Little Falls, NJ). Suppliers accounted for less than 10 "key" personal care deals in the last four years, however, they have steadily made many small-size acquisitions, Morris says. Meanwhile, small-size privately held suppliers in the Europe Union (EU) may be more willing to sell their businesses going forward, due to costs associated with the EU's Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals regulation, she says.

Many of the acquisitions made thus far have been driven by the desire m grow product portfolios, technologies, applications, and/or geographic reach, Morris says (table). These include International Specialty Products's (ISP) acquisition earlier this year of Vincience (Sophia …