Procter & Gamble Acquires Walker & Company Brands, maker of Bevel razor and Form beauty products

[Maxxam]

https://www.blackenterprise.com/bevel-acquired-proctor-and-gamble/

Walker & Company Brands, the black-owned company that makes health and beauty products for people of color, including Bevel, the men’s shaving line, announced today that it will join the Procter & Gamble Company family of brands to better serve consumers of color around the world.

“I started Walker & Co. Brands with one mission: to make health and beauty simple for people of color,” founder and CEO, Tristan Walker told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “By merging with Proctor & Gamble, Walker [& Company] now has access to a vast array of resources that will help us better deliver on this mission, while staying true to what the company stands for and the community we serve,” he said.

Bevel (Image: Walker and Company, Brands)

The company was founded in 2013, and it has spent the last five years developing products and services tailored to people of color. Most notably known for its brand Bevel, a comprehensive grooming experience designed for the specific needs of men with coarse or curly hair. The company will also bring it’s newly developed product line, FORM Beauty, a premium hair care collection developed to meet the unique needs of the increasing number of women with textured hair.

Walker appeared on the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine’s September 2016 issue along with music industry celebrity and fellow entrepreneur Ryan Leslie.

There will be no changes to the product themselves, and Walker & Co. Brands will operate as a separate and wholly-owned subsidiary of P&G, continuing to be led by Walker. “Nothing is changing at Walker & Co. Brands. We remain devoted to serving people of color by delivering products tailored to their needs and that quite simply, just work,” said Walker. “That’s the beautiful thing about merging with the P&G family of brands; they aren’t tinkering with our formula. On the contrary, they are just giving us the resources and fuel needed to continue delivering on our promises, but on an even larger, global scale. I’m extremely excited about this new chapter and what is to come.”

“Joining forces with Tristan and the Walker & Company brings together great teams with shared values and a vision of better serving consumers of color around the world. We’re excited to welcome Bevel and FORM Beauty to the P&G family and help ensure these great brands reach even more consumers,” stated Lela Coffey, director of multicultural marketing for P&G.

The merger will assist in growing P&G’s multicultural business and accelerate growth for Walker & Company’s existing brands, as well as fuel the development of additional products designed for the specific needs of people of color.

 

[KRAYZIE]

Nas bout to head to court soon

 

[YoungSinister]

Nas bout to head to court soon

Lmao damn

 

[Soul On Ice]

Damn,
Can we ever keep something Black owned

 

[Sango]

Nas bout to head to court soon

Real talk!

 

[Teknique310]

Damn,
Can we ever keep something Black owned

Its especially hard to build a premium product serving a small niche base( Blk population in the US 12/13% - More than half are women). This partnership will give him more reach to market to Blk men around the world & lower his prices. From the outside looks like a good deal ,and it mitigates some of his risk.

He needs reach and P&G gives him more reach globally. Not to mention some of those P&G shares with a nice 3% dividend yield $$$.

 

[Flawless]

So after all that pride in black ownership talk he sold out

 

[Flawless]

Its especially hard to build a premium product serving a small niche base( Blk population in the US 12/13% - More than half are women). This partnership will give him more reach to market to Blk men around the world & lower his prices. From the outside looks like a good deal ,and it mitigates some of his risk.

He needs reach and P&G gives him more reach globally. Not to mention some of those P&G shares with a nice 3% dividend yield $$$.

he needs reach? It is no longer his company. We've seen this before, in a year or two he is leave citing creative differences.

 

[thismybgolname]

Props to him.

Take the money and start on his next idea.

 

[tpotda]

Only Dame, Suge, Katt, Tariq, Lavar and JT Tha Bigga Figga actually walk the walk when it comes to staying independent and keeping corporate interests outa their shit like Dame says it in his award acceptance speech below putting up his own money. Independent

 

[Mixd]

Nas bout to head to court soon

Kelis dating Ryan Leslie or the other dude?

Don't know the back story

 

[yureeka9]

This is a problem black people will never overcome. We can only get so large before we sell out to white companies and perpetually cripple black economic power in this country. It never fails. White people have figured that they don't have to always use violence to hold black people down. They can simply buy them off to keep them passive.

 

[Teknique310]

he needs reach? It is no longer his company. We've seen this before, in a year or two he is leave citing creative differences.

He'll leave with P&G stock from a company he built. Is he not supposed to benefit. It is his company!

 

[sharkbait28]

Damn man, some if yall sound miserable af. Good for this dude, I remember when he did his Series B venture round a few years ago.

While y'all hatin dude had his start up funded, grew and did distribution deals and sold his company the same way all successful SV companies do. Lookin fwd to seeing what this brother does next

 

[Teknique310]

This is a problem black people will never overcome. We can only get so large before we sell out to white companies and perpetually cripple black economic power in this country. It never fails. White people have figured that they don't have to always use violence to hold black people down. They can simply buy them off to keep them passive.

Its not that simple.

This young brother started in angel financing. He is from the world of build credibility & then sell it for more. A flip! The more legs on potential the farther you push or settle(sell).

If the product is good & credible it will speak for itself. But he is also dealing with a very small pool to draw from & creating a premium name for it. Thats expensive R&D & promo (Nas), as you are expecting your clientale to pay a premium price 4 said product.

Its not his responsibility if "you" were looking to hang your hat on his accomplishments for cultural pride. He is a businessman, and he is conducting business. He now has the means to fund more ideas.

It seems some have misinterpreted his message. Build & profit, its America baby!

Pimp & ho game.

 

[Llano]

So after all that pride in black ownership talk he sold out

Shit anything is for sale for the right price. I think he was just holding out for the highest deal, other companies were low balling him.

 

[Llano]

Its not that simple.

This young brother started in angel financing. He is from the world of build credibility & then sell it for more. A flip! The more legs on potential the farther you push or settle(sell).

If the product is good & credible it will speak for itself. But he is also dealing with a very small pool to draw from & creating a premium name for it. Thats expensive R&D & promo (Nas), as you are expecting your clientale to pay a premium price 4 said product.

Its not his responsibility if "you" were looking to hang your hat on his accomplishments for cultural pride. He is businessman, and he is conducting business. He now has the means to fund more ideas.

It seems some have misinterpreted his message. Build & profit, its America baby!

Pimp & ho game.

Exactly. The brother got a hefty offer that will feed his bloodline for generations to come and he'll probably help pave or fund the way for other black entrepreneurs.

 

[Mrfreddygoodbud]

This is a problem black people will never overcome. We can only get so large before we sell out to white companies and perpetually cripple black economic power in this country. It never fails. White people have figured that they don't have to always use violence to hold black people down. They can simply buy them off to keep them passive.

I cant recall what brand it was.. but one of the big make up brands...

bragged about owning the black beauty market, he said something along the lines of we will always

control the market or some shit.. I think thats what caused that model imam to start her own make up business...

hey I aint mad at him....

 

[yureeka9]

Its not that simple.

This young brother started in angel financing. He is from the world of build credibility & then sell it for more. A flip! The more legs on potential the farther you push or settle(sell).

If the product is good & credible it will speak for itself. But he is also dealing with a very small pool to draw from & creating a premium name for it. Thats expensive R&D & promo (Nas), as you are expecting your clientale to pay a premium price 4 said product.

Its not his responsibility if "you" were looking to hang your hat on his accomplishments for cultural pride. He is a businessman, and he is conducting business. He now has the means to fund more ideas.

It seems some have misinterpreted his message. Build & profit, its America baby!

Pimp & ho game.

Eh...These are the thoughts of the capitalist vs. the collective. You can't on the one hand be all about the individual accomplishments but when policies that damage black people as a collective kick in get mad and holler foul. You're either an American or a Black American. You can't influence policy as an individual. You have to be part of a group that can leverage its economic influence on policy makers. That means having a conglomerate of companies like the one he sold and not just one here and another there. You can best believe that the company he sold his innovation to has policy leverage and by making that purchase Proctor and Gamble has effectively reduced the political leverage of the black community.

 

[peterlongshort]

Damn man, some if yall sound miserable af. Good for this dude, I remember when he did his Series B venture round a few years ago.

While y'all hatin dude had his start up funded, grew and did distribution deals and sold his company the same way all successful SV companies do. Lookin fwd to seeing what this brother does next

Because it was fraudelent from the jump. He was propoganda for white people and a debt vehicle for silicon valley. Bevel sold shitty razors marketed toward black men, how many barbers do you know that fucked with a Bevel blade? What are the metrics of his success besides a Nas Ad? Do you know anyone with a Bevel? This is a press release issued by his PR team. He's out. His white master are done with him. This is Ryan Leslie all over again.

 

[peterlongshort]

Its not that simple.

This young brother started in angel financing. He is from the world of build credibility & then sell it for more. A flip! The more legs on potential the farther you push or settle(sell).

If the product is good & credible it will speak for itself. But he is also dealing with a very small pool to draw from & creating a premium name for it. Thats expensive R&D & promo (Nas), as you are expecting your clientale to pay a premium price 4 said product.

Its not his responsibility if "you" were looking to hang your hat on his accomplishments for cultural pride. He is a businessman, and he is conducting business. He now has the means to fund more ideas.

It seems some have misinterpreted his message. Build & profit, its America baby!

Pimp & ho game.

We used to call that selling out your people, but cats are way different these days...

 

[sharkbait28]

Because it was fraudelent from the jump. He was propoganda for white people and a debt vehicle for silicon valley. Bevel sold shitty razors marketed toward black men, how many barbers do you know that fucked with a Bevel blade? What are the metrics of his success besides a Nas Ad? Do you know anyone with a Bevel? This is a press release issued by his PR team. He's out. His white master are done with him. This is Ryan Leslie all over again.

Come on fam, pro barbers will only fuck with Andis and Wahl. I've never used Bevel personally but I don't get the shade being thrown here... sounds personal.

Bottom line, you don't get Series B funding or sell your company to the likes of P&G (the premiere consumer packaged goods company in the States afaik) without solid metrics.

Lemme know what I'm missing here.

 

[Teknique310]

Eh...These are the thoughts of the capitalist vs. the collective. You can't on the one hand be all about the individual accomplishments but when policies that damage black people as a collective kick in get mad and holler foul. You're either an American or a Black American. You can't influence policy as an individual. You have to be part of a group that can leverage its economic influence on policy makers. That means having a conglomerate of companies like the one he sold and not just one here and another there. You can best believe that the company he sold his innovation to has policy leverage and by making that purchase Proctor and Gamble has effectively reduced the political leverage of the black community.

True in large part.

But you are telling"him" what he should do. Look up the old Bevel thread I remember from BGOL & you will see 2/3 of people in that thread calling his product overpriced. Thats just one sample of what youngblood was up against as he was building a premium brand for roughly 5-6% of the population. Tall order, & in it basic business plan needed to have global scope as part of the model. Hence selling.

Am I the one to tell "him" he should struggle to market a niche product or sell his business & profit from his hard work & research. I say congratulations on your future endeavors.

This brother is from the world of start up finance & he has learned & executed well.

Collective thought is great & all. But we dont all think exactly alike. We are not a monolith of group think on solving the ills of Black life in this country.

Some of us can engineer the bridge, others are going to fish the waters underneath, yet others will drive a Rolls Royce across it. The problems arise when one becomes to judgemental of the other.

 

[peterlongshort]

Come on fam, pro barbers will only fuck with Andis and Wahl. I've never used Bevel personally but I don't get the shade being thrown here... sounds personal.

Bottom line, you don't get Series B funding or sell your company to the likes of P&G (the premiere consumer packaged goods company in the States afaik) without solid metrics.

Lemme know what I'm missing here.

...where are the metrics? Where is the success? Is it a successful product? Or propoganda?

 

[sharkbait28]

...where are the metrics? Where is the success? Is it a successful product? Or propoganda?

I don't get it... did I miss some scandal involving this dude? Are you similarly dismissive of all start-ups which get funded and then sold off to be acquired by much larger companies? I feel like I'm missing something here bruh... pls tell me you're not literally just hating for no reason.

 

[peterlongshort]

I don't get it... did I miss some scandal involving this dude? Are you similarly dismissive of all start-ups which get funded and then sold off to be acquired by much larger companies? I feel like I'm missing something here bruh... pls tell me you're not literally literally just hating for no reason.

That's how they distract you. I ask for metrics. Numbers. Quantifiable results.

Instead of FACTS you make it personal. There is no hating in business. It is what it is. If this dude was white and corny this would be a non story, but we black people are so brainwashed and thirsty for white validation that we consume anything as a 'success' story.

 

[sharkbait28]

That's how they distract you. I ask for metrics. Numbers. Quantifiable results.

Instead of FACTS you make it personal. There is no hating in business. It is what it is. If this dude was white and corny this would be a non story, but wew are so brainwashed and thirsty for white validation that we consume anything as a 'success' story.

You gotta be trolling man. Dude created a start up, got it funded and ultimately sold it to one of the premiere companies in his space. How is that not successful? How is that hunger for "white validation"?

He literally followed the SV template. I thought for a sec there was some controversy involving this dude that explains the absurd responses but looks like it's actual real life hateration lmao

You never know when you're gonna see it live in the wild and shit

 

[peterlongshort]

This is the better question. If he started the company with investor's money (angel investors), very little money of his own, and sold the company to another company, who get's paid? The investors or him?

 

[peterlongshort]

You gotta be trolling man. Dude created a start up, got it funded and ultimately sold it to one of the premiere companies in his space. How is that not successful? How is that hunger for "white validation"?

He literally followed the SV template. I thought for a sec there was some controversy involving this dude that explains the absurd responses but looks like it's actual real life hateration lmao

You never know when you're gonna see it live in the wild and shit

Ok, I'm a hater. Fine. Pearls to swine.

 

[trstar]

If you had the opportunity to secure your bloodline for generations, what do you do?

 

[Teknique310]

This is the better question. If he started the company with investor's money (angel investors), very little money of his own, and sold the company to another company, who get's paid? The investors or him?

Every vested interest for their percentage.

 

[sharkbait28]

This is the better question. If he started the company with investor's money (angel investors), very little money of his own, and sold the company to another company, who get's paid? The investors or him?

Should've just started here in the first place. Looks like his initial investors recouped most (if not all) their initial investment and while not a crazy-good result for them this deal puts P&G's considerable marketing/research capacity to work for this brand.

Do you know how many start ups crash and burn ever year bruh?

It's cool to see a brother doing it successfully (not many in SV) and I resist these efforts to dismiss dude out of hand for literally no reason. Shit makes no sense.

 

[Camille]

I knew it was just a matter of time.

 

[Teknique310]

We used to call that selling out your people, but cats are way different these days...

Its funny you have MC Hammer in your sig, he was accused of the same thing in the earlier years of hip hop. And one of his biggest financial mistakes he made was trying carry "everybody & put people on for nothing".

Look at hip hop now. Was he a sell out ? Or a pioneer in marketing his music & brand. Jay Z, Puffy, & Dr Dre would all tell you he took heat that allowed them Reebok deals, Ciroc deals, Beats by Dre, movies, tv, commercials etc.

Fine line in life, as we all have to manage the balancing act of criticism in order to succeed past the norm.

Opinions & assholes..

 

[p5ych3]

insert the rock clapping gif here

props to the brother on his success