Coty reshuffles US operations

The expansion is to take place at Coty's Sanford, North Carolina facility, the company announced this week.

The updated operations will include the installation of four new state of the art manufacturing lines and the expansion of the firm's distribution capacity. Coty said it expects the expansion to allow it to continue to grow its product offering and customer services capabilities.

At the same time, the firm said it plans to close its other US facility located in Mt. Olive, New Jersey. These operations are due to be consolidated into the expanded Sanford facility.

"Increasing our manufacturing and distribution capacity in one location in Sanford, North Carolina will allow our Supply Chain organization to support Coty's current and future growth," said Gabriel Ripoll, Coty's senior operations executive.

The expanded Sanford facility and Mt. Olive transition is expected to be completed by the second or third quarter of 2007, said the company.

Last year, Coty completed the purchase of Unilever Cosmetics International, the global prestige fragrance business of Unilever, a deal that made it the world's largest fragrance player.

At the time, the company's CEO Bernd Beetz had said the purchase "strengthens Coty's leadership position in the global marketplace. It is an excellent strategic move for Coty and one that is fully in line with our strategy. Coty is now the world's largest fragrance company and we are in a strong position to achieve our long-term goal of being among the top five beauty companies in the world."

The move gave Coty access to key brands such as Calvin Klein and Chloe, increasing the prominence of the company on the international beauty market.

Other key international brands owned by Coty include Joop, Celine Dion, Adidas, Jennifer Lopez and Esprit. The company also signed up England football captain David Beckham and his pop star wife Victoria to promote perfume brands.