Revlon was the #2 cosmetics brand — then $3.3B in debt and supply chain chaos sank it

Revlon was founded in 1932 by Charles Revson, his brother Joseph, and chemist Charles Lachman, starting with a new type of nail enamel. By the end of WWII it was the #2 cosmetics producer in the U.S. In 1985, Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes acquired Revlon for $2.7 billion in a leveraged buyout financed with junk bonds, saddling the company with $2.9 billion in debt. Perelman sold off divisions to service the debt, but the debt load never went away.

Revlon went public again in 1996 but remained controlled by Perelman. In 2016, it acquired Elizabeth Arden for $870 million, adding more debt. The company faced rising competition from newer brands like Kylie Cosmetics and Fenty Beauty. In 2020, Revlon narrowly avoided bankruptcy by restructuring its debt. That same year, Citibank mistakenly wired $900 million to Revlon's creditors, sparking a legal battle. Supply chain disruptions and falling behind evolving beauty trends compounded the problems.

Revlon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 16, 2022, listing $3.31 billion in long-term debt. The company was delisted from the NYSE in October 2022. In December 2022, it announced a plan to raise $650 million in equity, transferring majority ownership to senior lenders and wiping out Ronald Perelman's interest. Revlon emerged from bankruptcy in May 2023 as a private company controlled by its creditors. The Perelman era — 37 years of debt — was finally over.