The Wall Street Journalreports that Stila Cosmetics has been acquired by Patriarch Partners, a New York-based private-equity firm that also owns Rand McNally maps and a helicopter manufacturer named MD Helicopters. Patriarch bought Stila at a foreclosure sale from Wachovia and CITI Group after Stila defaulted on a loan.
Patriarch is expected to acquire the makeup company from Wachovia Corp. and CIT Group for an undisclosed sum. The lenders took the company over from Sun Capital Partners through a foreclosure sale after Stila defaulted on a loan.
Stila, based in Glendale, Calif., has changed hands several times over the past decade. Estée Lauder acquired the company from founder Jeanine Lobell in 1999, and then sold it to Sun Capital in 2006.
Traditionally, beauty products have proved relatively resilient during difficult economic times as women sought small, affordable pick-me-ups. But this recession is proving more challenging for high-end beauty lines, particularly as drugstore offerings have improved in quality.
The future of the cosmetics company is unclear at this point. Hopefully, the new ownwers will let Stila's business resume. The Stila website still shows it is down for "routine maintenance."
The Wall Street Journal 
