AII Buys Thermal Spa Products

American International Industries (AII) has added another business to its lineup of beauty companies: Thermal Spa Products Inc.

The line of professional beauty products and accessories, aimed at salons and spas, becomes AII’s 57th brand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but AII vice president of professional sales, Mark Moesta, described Thermal Spa as a “multimillion-dollar business” prior to the acquisition.

“It was doing well and it was showing some growth, but I think the owners just decided that they wanted to do something else, and we were in contact with them and had a fit,” he said. “They were one of our biggest competitors in a couple of fields.”

Moesta singled out brands Gigi, clean+easy and Gena as ones in AII’s portfolio that Thermal Spa rivaled. Thermal Spa has been in hundreds of salon and spa doors, but Moesta said AII can “push it to a wider distribution. It rounds us out in some categories like paraffin.”

AII generated $200 million-plus in revenues in 2008. The company brings the manufacturing of the acquired brands in-house and leverages its widespread distribution network to boost sales.

“We are definitely in acquisition mode,” said Moesta. “We always are.”