Harry’s razor startup sold to Schick owner for $1.37 billion

Schick razor owner Edgewell Personal Care said on Thursday it would buy shaving startup Harry’s Inc. in a $1.37 billion cash-and-stock deal to expand in a fast-growing US grooming market.

Harry’s is the latest shaving startup to be bought by a bigger rival and surpasses the size of Unilever’s $1 billion purchase of the US-based Dollar Shave Club in 2016.

Unilever, Procter & Gamble and others have put more focus on men’s grooming, trying to coax them into spending more on deodorants, skin creams and hair products.

The global men’s grooming industry is expected to hit $78.6 billion by 2023 from $57.7 billion in 2017, according to a ResearchAndMarkets.com report.

New York-based Harry’s sells razors, shaving creams, lotions, soaps and other grooming products, embossed with its quirky hairy elephant logo, as well as Flamingo line of women’s razors and waxes.

Harry’s founders Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider will join the executive team of Edgewell as co-presidents of the company’s US operations.

Edgewell will pay 79% of the deal value in cash and the rest in stock, giving Harry’s shareholders an 11% stake in the combined company upon completion of the deal, expected by the end of first quarter of 2020.

Edgewell, which is in the process of exploring alternatives including the sale of its feminine care and infant care businesses, missed analysts expectations for second-quarter revenue due to the weak performance in the segments.

The New York Times had earlier reported about the deal on Thursday.

Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg Partners are financial advisers to Edgewell, while Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as the company’s legal adviser.

Centerview Partners was the financial adviser to Harry’s and Latham & Watkins and O’Melveny & Myers served as its legal advisers.