KDC Buys Thibiant

Knowlton Development Corporation (“KDC”), contract manufacturer of health and beauty-care products headquartered in Longueuil, Quebec, acquired Thibiant International, Inc. (“Thibiant”). Thibiant, located in California, formulates and manufactures personal and skin care products, and offers product development services, innovation R&D, quality and compliance assurance services, and manufacturing solutions for the production of beauty and skin care product brands. Thibiant has 285 full-time employees in facilities extending over 330,000 square feet.


This transaction comes in the wake of a series of acquisitions carried out in 2014 and 2015, and which were made possible by its parent company, Novacap, through its Novacap Industries IV Fund, with the support of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Investissement-Québec, Export Development Canada (EDC), Fondaction CSNand other institutional partners. This transaction is one step forward in KDC’s evolution as world-class leader in the supply of high quality, innovative products and delivery solutions to prominent brands. While KDC is active in many personal care categories such as deodorants, hair care, bath and body, and skin care products, Thibiant represents a major acquisition in terms of crystallizing its presence on the West Coast of the US enabling KDC to offer a wider range of services to clients, most of which conduct major business transactions in that area.


“We are very confident that this acquisition will add considerable growth potential and enable us to establish a strong presence on the West Coast of the U.S.,” states KDC President and CEO Nicholas Whitley. “We found particularly attractive Thibiant’s innovation-driven business model, its high-tech facilities and equipment, its exceptional client base and, most of all, its team of talented and highly qualified professionals. KDC and Thibiant also share very similar corporate cultures and operating principles, which establishes a solid base for cooperation. We are going to phase some of Thibiant’s best practices into our operation and export some of ours, which will make for excellent synergies benefiting everyone.”


“With this acquisition, NOVACAP and its institutional partners are living up to their promise of doubling the size of the company and hitting the billion-dollar mark in annual sales over the next three to five years,” adds KDC Chairman and NOVACAP Senior Partner Michel Côté. “In less than 25 months since KDC’s capital was restructured, we have already invested over $200 million in growing the business and making acquisitions like ChemAid, Kolmar, Acupac, Cosmetic Technologies and now Thibiant, each of which brings no small measure of added value to KDC’s positioning as an industry leader.”


“KDC is a long time, recognized leader in subcontracting, and we think that our two companies will form an extraordinary combination that will continue to build added value for clients, employees and all of our stakeholders,” states Thibiant International Inc. President and CEO Patrick Thibiant. “We are looking at a brilliant future for both companies. KDC has a long history of constant investment in its businesses, plants and employees, and we can count on that pattern continuing. KDC also boasts a great record for sales growth, operational excellence and high-quality customer service. It shares our vision of being the best custom manufacturer of health, personal care, beauty and medical products in North America.”