Irvine cosmetics company Arbonne International LLC has signed on to sublease office space being vacated by the parent of Ameriquest Mortgage Co. at Irvine’s Jamboree Center.
Arbonne, which sells a pricey Swiss line of makeup, skin lotions and other products, plans to lease 90,000 square feet at the office complex at Main Street and Jamboree Road. The company already has 150,000 square feet at 9400 Jeronimo in Irvine, which serves as its headquarters.
In June, Orange-based ACC Capital Holdings Corp., parent of Ameriquest, said it was putting as much as 600,000 square feet of Orange County office space on the market, including about 175,000 square feet at Jamboree Center.
Arbonne offers cosmetics made from natural ingredients that are sold by independent sales representatives at house parties and other gatherings.
Think Mary Kay or Avon, but with Euro organic cachet.
New York private equity firm Harvest Partners Inc. owns Arbonne and runs the business with Chatsworth-based Levlad Inc., a maker of natural and organic products.
The two companies make up Harvest’s Natural Products Group with yearly sales of about $200 million.
The operation seems to be a cash cow for Harvest: This summer the firm paid investors a $62 million dividend,its third in a year from Natural Products Group,after refinancing the operation’s debt.
Natural Products Group has given about $200 million in dividends in the past year on Harvest Partners’ original $93 million investment.
Senior Arbonne and Levlad management have an undisclosed stake in Natural Products Group.
Arbonne is expanding elsewhere.
In July, the company opened a 208,000-square-foot warehouse in Greenwood, Ind., to the glee of city and economic development officials there. The facility employs about 440 people in two shifts, according to Arbonne.
For more on this story, see the Sept. 18 edition of the Business Journal.
