Case study · Private equity turnaround · Beauty
Avon / Cerberus Capital / LG H&H
A Cerberus Capital portfolio-company turnaround supported by strategic analytics and operating improvement, culminating in LG Household & Health Care’s $125 million acquisition of New Avon.
The ownership context
Cerberus Capital acquired Avon’s North American business in 2016, creating New Avon as a separately operated company serving the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Within that private-equity ownership context, the enterprise required a turnaround that could strengthen operating performance, restore strategic credibility, and preserve options for a future industry owner.
The turnaround mandate
BoCG contributed to the Cerberus portfolio-company turnaround through strategic analytics and operating improvement. The work focused on making performance drivers visible, identifying where CAPEX and OPEX constrained value, and strengthening the operating basis for strategic decision-making.
The mandate connected beauty-sector knowledge with strategic positioning, business-intelligence modeling, development planning, and exit readiness.
Analytics into action
The work used strategic analytics to identify CAPEX and OPEX opportunities and translate them into operating priorities. The focus was not cost reduction in isolation; it was improving the relationship between resources, performance, and the enterprise’s strategic direction.
This created clearer visibility into which interventions could support restored profitability and which capabilities needed to be protected or strengthened as the business prepared for its next ownership chapter.
Strategic positioning and exit readiness
Operating improvement and transaction readiness were treated as connected workstreams. Stronger analytics and performance visibility supported a more decision-useful view of the enterprise, while strategic positioning clarified the value that a long-term industry owner could develop.
The turnaround ultimately aligned with LG Household & Health Care’s strategy to establish a platform for entering and expanding in the North American beauty and personal-care market.
The documented outcome
The documented work is associated with reduced CAPEX and OPEX, restored profitability, and a turnaround that culminated in LG Household & Health Care’s acquisition of 100% of New Avon for $125 million.
The case demonstrates how operating discipline can support strategic optionality and country-entry logic. It does not treat the transaction itself as the value-creation plan; it shows how enterprise improvement can strengthen the basis for a strategic sale.
Attribution note: Cerberus Capital, New Avon, and LG Household & Health Care are identified to describe the portfolio ownership, turnaround, and transaction context. This summary does not imply that BoCG served as lead transaction advisor or independently caused the acquisition.
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