Paul Meister to take over operations

NEW YORK– Revlon Inc. announced that Fabian Garcia, president and chief executive officer of Revlon, has stepped down from his position to pursue other opportunities.

Paul Meister, currently a member of Revlon’s board of directors, will become executive vice chairman of the board, overseeing day-to-day operations of the company on an interim basis. Garcia will stay on through the end of February to assist Meister with an orderly transition of his duties.

Fabian Garcia

“It has been a privilege to serve as CEO of this iconic company,” said Garcia in a statement. “I want to thank each and every one of the women and men of Revlon whose relentless commitment and passion for the beauty business have made this company the global cosmetics leader it remains today. I also want to thank MacAndrews & Forbes for their support as we started to transform the company after the Elizabeth Arden acquisition all the way through the most recent launch of the new and exciting ‘Live Boldly’ Revlon campaign. I’m confident that Revlon will continue to succeed as the company executes its long term growth plan, which is already having an impact on reestablishing its status as a trendsetter and pioneer in the industry.”

“This has been a difficult year for us balancing the successful integration of Elizabeth Arden with the rise of e-commerce and specialty beauty stores. We are aggressively catching up to that rapid transformation and I want to thank Fabian for his leadership through this challenging and dynamic period,” said Ronald Perelman, chairman of Revlon’s board of directors. “I look forward to continuing to realize the benefits of the Elizabeth Arden acquisition and evolving to grow in this exciting new way of business. The company has gained momentum and is now poised for future growth.”

Added Meister, “I’m thrilled to help lead Revlon during this transition period and I’ve been encouraged by the progress Revlon has made with respect to our extensive transformation initiatives. While we still have significant work to do, we’re putting our iconic brands at the center of our strategy to better position us in this rapidly evolving marketplace. I look forward to enhancing our operating structure, driving innovation, and strengthening the future leadership team.”

Paul Meister has served on Revlon’s board since 2016. He is currently president of MacAndrews & Forbes and was co-founder of Liberty Lane Partners LLC, a private investment company with investments in healthcare, technology, and distribution-related industries. He previously served as chairman and CEO of inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health Inc.) and chairman of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

With the announcement about Garcia, Revlon also reported preliminary fourth-quarter earnings and revenue. The company anticipates its fourth-quarter net loss widened to about $60 million to $80 million, from a loss of $36.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Revlon expects to post a net loss of $165 million to $185 million for fiscal 2017, versus a loss of $21.9 million in 2016.

As for sales, Revlon estimates it will report $785 million in net sales, beating analyst projections of $742 million.

Shares of Revlon surged 2.7% on the news, before settling slightly up at about 1%.