Inter Parfums SA to acquire Rochas

Inter Parfums SA is set to acquire luxury fashion label Rochas’s fashion and fragrance business from Procter & Gamble Co. Inter Parfums SA CEO and Chairman Philippe Benacin has confirmed that Rochas has been purchased for the price of 108 million dollars.

This is a very exciting endeavor for Inter Parfums SA because this will be their first step into the world of fashion. For those not familiar with Inter Parfums SA they are the Paris-based subsidiary of Inter Parfums Inc. of New York. The company boasts a rather impressive list of licensed fragrance brands including Jimmy Choo, Montblanc, and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Inter Parfums acquiring Rochas for 108 million dollars

In 1925, Marcel Rochas founded the Rochas fashion house, and in the 1950’s his wife Hélène Rochas began the Rochas fragrance business. In 2014, Rochas registered net sales of 46 million dollars, with a large chunk of that coming from sales of their Eau de Rochas fragrance line. The current creative director of Rochas is Alessandro Dell’Acqua.

The acquisition of Rochas by Inter Parfums SA is actually expected to be quite smooth. It should be completed by the first half of the year, and will be paid in cash and financed through a medium term loan. In a statement, Benacin said, “The deal would “open up new opportunities in terms of creativity as well as aesthetic design and marketing choices. It will also allow us to apply a global approach to managing a fragrance brand boasting a very high name recognition and without time constraints.”

Given Inter Parfums SA success with so many other high-end fragrances they should be able to take Rochas’s fragrance to new heights. It will be interesting to see how they handle the fashion component of the brand though, as this will be their first time diving into the apparel realm. The company does know great business strategy though, as proven with the success of all the fragrance lines they handle, so, Rochas’s fashion department should be in good hands.