Avon buys Silpada

Avon, the direct seller of cosmetics and beauty products, has agreed to buy the assets of jewellery business Silpada for an initial payment of approximately $650 million (£426.1 million). Silpada is a direct seller of sterling silver jewellery and trades through 32,000 independent representatives (party planners) in the US, Canada and the UK as well as online.

Avon said in a statement that Silpada will continue to operate as a standalone business within the Avon empire, and that Silpada cofounders Bonnie Kelly and Teresa Walsh, and chief executive and cofounder Jerry Kelly will continue to run the business from its headquarters in Kansas. Silpada currently generates annual revenues of $230 million (£150.4 million) and margins “significantly higher than Avon’s” said the statement.