LG H&H(051900) will sell the Avon North America business it acquired in 2019 for about 145 billion won, seven years after the purchase. Instead of maintaining Avon's door-to-door and direct sales–focused business, it plans to restructure its North America operations around retail and digital by pushing its own brands such as Dr.Groot, belif, and CNP.
LG H&H's North American unit LG H&H USA said on the 24th that it signed a stock purchase agreement to transfer 100% equity in its subsidiary The Avon Company to Stratford Worldwide.
The disclosed disposal amount is $6 million, or about 8.358 billion won. The transaction is scheduled to close on the 1st of next month, and the exact sale price will be finalized at closing.
Stratford Worldwide is an affiliate of global investment firm Regent. Regent completed the acquisition of Avon International in January this year and is operating the Avon business in regions outside North America, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In April 2019, LG H&H signed a deal to acquire 100% equity in the Avon North America unit, then known as New Avon, for $125 million. At the exchange rate at the time, it was about 145 billion won. The goal was to secure Avon's local distribution, logistics, and sales infrastructure in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico to expand the North American entry of LG H&H brands.
However, Avon's performance has since struggled to return to a normal trajectory. According to LG H&H's 2025 business report, The Avon Company posted sales of 269.2 billion won last year but recorded a net loss of 30.1 billion won. The Canadian unit, The Avon Company Canada, also recorded sales of 32.8 billion won and a net loss of 5.6 billion won.
By contrast, LG H&H's North American business has recently shown prominent growth in its in-house brands. Second-quarter sales in North America were 205.8 billion won, up 47.3% from a year earlier, surpassing China's sales of 176 billion won for the first time. The expansion of local sales of premium brands such as Dr.Groot and the strengthening of retail and digital channels drove growth.
Accordingly, after selling Avon, LG H&H plans to focus North American resources on its own beauty and wellness brands such as Dr.Groot, belif, and CNP. It will increase consumer touchpoints in U.S. offline distribution and digital commerce and reorganize its business portfolio around brands with high growth potential.
Michael A. Reinstein, chair of Regent, said, "LG H&H has delivered results by preserving Avon's legacy while modernizing the business, and going forward the Avon North America business, together with the International business, will create new growth opportunities through common strategies and product synergies."
An LG H&H official said, "While Avon is seeking new growth opportunities based on a social selling business model, LG H&H is making this decision to further focus on a brand-centered growth strategy in North America," adding, "We will accelerate growth by concentrating resources and capabilities on competitive beauty and wellness brands centered on retail and digital channels."
Meanwhile, LG H&H's North American unit decided to convert into equity the amount lent to Avon (The Avon Company) in connection with this transaction. This is a procedure to settle internal creditor relationships between the two companies; there will be no separate cash payment due to the debt-to-equity swap, and the equity ratio will remain unchanged.