Japan's Panasonic locks in on GHD hair straighteners
Japanese giant Panasonic has reportedly expressed an interest in buying UK hair straightener maker GHD, which is being sold off by its private equity owner Lion Capital.
GHD, which stands for 'good hair day' and has enjoyed strong growth thanks in large part through celebrity endorsements from the likes of Victoria Beckham, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry and Jennifer Aniston, is thought to be valued by Lion at more than £400m.
Panasonic has emerged as one of the most likely buyers of GHD, according to reports from Sky News, though there is also interest in the auction from private equity group CVC Capital Partners, a US-based investment firm and another trade buyer.
Last year Leeds-based GHD, which was set up by Yorkshire entrepreneurs Martin Penny and Gary Douglas and hair stylist Robert Powls in 2001 when they bought the rights to hair irons developed South Korean inventor Tae-Cheol Kim, grew sales 9.5% to £181.2m and made £33.7m in pre-tax profit.
Analysts suggest the weakening in the pound since the Brexit vote will see a raft of overseas buyers swoop for relatively cheaper UK companies, with SoftBank's proposed takeover of chipmaker ARM another to have benefitted from sterling's fall.