Ales Groupe is a cosmetics and fragrances company based in Paris, France.[1][2] The company has been founded by Patrick Alès, a hair stylist, dating back before 1969[3] when he created Laboratoires Phytosolba, a botanical hair care brand formulated with plants.[4]
The company was founded in 1969 by Patrick Alès, a hairdresser who invented the technique of blow-drying in 1964,[5][6] after his own salon had gone bankrupt.[7]
It began operating under the name Phytosolba Laboratories, supported by a loan from Jacques Dessange,[9] producing and selling plant-based hair treatments (phytotherapy) in pharmacies under the brand Phyto.[7][5]
In 1979, the L'Oréal group purchased 49% of the company's capital, allowing it to acquire the plant-based cosmetics brand Lierac,[10] created four years earlier.[11] In 1983, Phytosolba Laboratories acquired the Laboratoires de médecine végétale.[12]
The group:s international expansion began in the early 1990s, accelerating its growth.[12]
In 1995, following a successful lawsuit against L'Oréal, Patrick Alès bought back its shares for 90 million francs, largely through debt financing.[10][13][14]
On 15 October 1996, the Ales group was renamed Phyto-Lierac and went public on the Second Market of the Paris Stock Exchange.[15][13] This operation allowed the founder and his family to sell 15% of the capital and raise 60 million francs.[14][16] At that time, revenue came primarily from high-end hair products (57%, under the Phytosolba brand, later renamed Phyto) and dermocosmetic products (41%, under the Lierac brand sold in pharmacies).[14]
On 4 June 1997, Phyto-Lierac issued a 220-million-franc convertible bond to finance acquisitions,[17][18] In 1997, the group purchased the Ducastel laboratory, which generated 31 million francs in revenue from professional hair-coloring products.[19][20][12]
In 1998, Phyto-Lierac acquired Parfums Caron,[19][21][18] a 50-employee company that had posted losses of 45 million francs over the previous three years.[22] According to La Tribune, the purchase price was between 40 and 95 million francs.[23]
After repaying its convertible bonds in January 2004, Phyto-Lierac, by then renamed Ales Groupe, launched a capital increase of €19.4 million.[24][25] While exports represented only 30% of revenue in 1996, they accounted for 50% in 2004.[26]
In 2008, Patrick Alès stepped down from the group's operational management.[6] In 2010, the company’s shares were transferred to Alternext.[27]
In the early 2010s, Ales Groupe underwent several management reshuffles.[28] In 2012, the company reported "the first losses in its history".[29]
In February 2018, Ales Groupe was in a difficult financial situation,[30] and Patrick Alès, chairman of the supervisory board, was replaced by his son Romain Alès.[31][32][33]
In May 2019, Avila, the holding company of Ales Groupe, carried out a capital increase of 20 million euros subscribed by a new investor, Co-Capital, already an international distribution partner of the group.[36][37][38] Co-Capital held 40% of Avila, with the founding family holding the rest.[39] At the end of the same month, founder Patrick Alès died.[40][5]
By late 2019, the situation worsened, as a banking covenant was no longer met,[41] and the amount of callable debt reached 90 million euros.[42] On 29 June 2020, trading of Ales Groupe shares on Euronext Growth was suspended.[43]
In summer 2020, the company - heavily loss-making despite the capital gain from the sale of Parfums Caron[35] - entered receivership.[43] The COVID-19 pandemic caused a halt in distribution across Europe and the United States, precipitating the collapse of the group already weakened for years.[43] On 24 September 2020, the commercial court approved the sale of the cosmetics division (70% of group activity) to the holding Impala of Jacques Veyrat for 13.5 million euros.[41] The haircare division was taken over by its managers.[41]
