Deb Group Ltd (‘Deb’), one of the world’s leading occupational skincare providers, today announces that it has reached an agreement with Evonik Industries to acquire the Stoko Professional Skin Care business. This is an historic and significant investment in the away from the home skincare sector.
Stoko has for over 70 years sought to combat skin disease in the workplace and has unparalleled expertise and knowledge in this field, supported by world class skincare products. The businesses have highly complementary customers, product and geographic coverage.
The addition of Stoko will allow Deb to accelerate a key element of its commercial strategy, to become a global leader in the prevention of occupational skin disease.
Bryan Anderson, CEO of Deb said “It has been a longstanding ambition of Deb’s to join forces with Stoko. We want to create the world’s most comprehensive and effective skincare product range for the workplace drawing on the significant innovation portfolio within both companies. This, in concert with vital information provided by Deb’s unique compliance monitoring technology, will fundamentally alter and improve standards of skincare behaviour.”
Patrik Wohlhauser, a member of the Evonik Executive Board, said “Evonik continues to direct its portfolio toward high-margin specialty chemicals businesses. While Stoko Professional Skin Care enjoys an excellent reputation on the market, its business model differs from that of Evonik today. As such, we have decided on a buyer that can best realize the growth potential of the business, we believe that Deb will be a good home for Stoko and its people.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory and Evonik’s Supervisory Board approvals and clearances and is expected to complete within the next few months.
