Logocos causing a commotion again – planning to sell denied

Bio-Markt.Info reported last December that  Logocos AG belongs to a Swiss holding company whose owners wish to remain anonymous. The German magazine Lebensmittelzeitung now writes that the current proprietors – among them a Kazakh oligarch  – want to sell  AG.  Marc Christian Wedekind, chairman of the supervisory board at Logocos, denied this categoriacally when bio-markt.info spoke to him.

Does Logocos belong to an oligarch?

Since Hans Hansel, the founder of Logona,  retired, the natural cosmetics company has been experiencing troubled times. The report in the Lebensmittelzeitung (LZ) last Friday revealed some new surprises. The LZ writes: “In 2013, Hansel, together with small shareholders, sold his shares to a trio of investors  - the Kazakh aluminium magnate Alijan Ibragimov, the current managing director Alexander Welter and  Dilshod Takhirov, a member of the supervisory board.“

Alijan Ibragimov is one of the richest oligarchs in Kazakhstan and is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of US$1.75bn. He earned his money principally in mining. As the Financial Times reports, the firm ENRC, founded by Ibragimov and two partners and domiciled in London, has for years been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for fraud and bribery. The article also refers to money laundering.

A picture from better days: the founder of the firm Hans Hansel (left) handing over the business to his successor  Ulrich Grieshaber in 2013.  © Karin Heinze

The chairman of the supervisory board denies any connection with Alijan Ibragimov. When asked about Alijan Ibragimov, Marc Christian Wedekind writes: “This gentleman has no business or personal connection with Herr Welter or  Logocos Naturkosmetik AG and Logocos Holding AG and  - until the article in the LZ – I had no knowledge of him whatsoever.“

In March 2013, so just a few months before Logocos was sold, Alexander Welter, the current CEO of  Logocos Naturkosmetik AG and the director of Logocos Holding, founded a firm in Vienna. Co-owner of Riwal Immobilien GmbH is  Rustam Ibragimov. Founded on the same day, Greenline Beförderungs- und Handels GmbH, with Welter as managing director, also belongs to him. In this case too, Wedekind writers that the oligarch Alijan Ibragimov has no business or personal connection with Rustam Ibragimov. In his reply, he does not go into any further detail rergarding the two firms.

“Logocos is not for sale!“

The LZ writes: “According to information received by LZ, the investor trio, that manages its participation via a holding company in Switzerland, intends to sell their shares.“  Wedekind denies this emphatically: “Neither Logocos Naturkosmetik AG nor Logocos Holding AG are for sale. There is also no intention to sell either of the firms in the future. The shareholders of Logocos Holding AG have a long-term interest and are investing in the expansion of the business.“ He says they have comprehensive plans for Logocos  and are already in the process of implementing them. “At the same time, we have created new concepts for the brands Logona, Sante and Heliotrop . We've developed new formulas, tested new ingredients, devised new marketing concepts and have  undertaken staff restructuring.“ He added that the shareholders were determined to make the company strong and efficient for the future so that it could continue to grow with the market. “For this reason, no negotiations are taking place with potential buyers.“

Three further statements in the LZ article are also not to the liking of Wedekind. The LZ writes that Ulrich Grieshaber, dismissed as CEO in 2014 and acting as a front man in the sale, (see our earlier report) is obviously once again on board and “is trying behind the scenes to get skilled staff to return to Logocos.“ Wedekind points out that  Grieshaber was dismissed with immediate effect and that he lost a court action against his disdmissal. Also, no management staff had chosen to leave the company. “The few staff who have left Logocos have done so at our request and on our initiative.“

The last to leave (December 2015) was the long-serving head of development Heinz-Jürgen Weiland. According to Wedekind, it is also not true that turnover at Logocos is stagnating. “It has increased year on year – and will continue to do so.“ Figures published in the Companies Register indicate the following turnover at Logocos Naturkosmetik AG: 2012: €45.7m, 2013: €49.2m and 2014: €48.6m. Operating results: zero growth in 2012 was followed by a loss of €615,000 in 2013 and a profit of €853,000 in 2014. Logocos has not yet published figures for 2015.

Picture: Heinz-Jürgen Weiland, former head of development at Logocos. © Logocos

Further articles and reports on Logocos can be found in the Archive.

While reporting on Logocos and the desire to acquire awakened by the booming business with natural cosmetics, the LZ also reports that the French cosmetics company L’Occitane wants to sell its natural cosmetics brand Melvita. The asking price is said to be €150m.