Merz Lifecare

Today we are taking off to a quantum leap in the #OTC market! We are incredibly proud to announce that Merz has signed an agreement to merge Merz Lifecare and WindStar Medical under a joint Merz Lifecare holding company. Merz becomes the majority shareholder of this holding company. We are thus increasing our strengths and Merz Lifecare is on its way to becoming one of the most important brand manufacturers in the OTC market (DACH). Merz Lifecare is already one of the leading providers of health and wellbeing products in the DACH region and has enjoyed continuous strong positive growth over the past 8 years, primarily organically - doubling its sales. Also WindStar Medical is a very successful OTC healthcare company, known above all for its strong brands SOS and Zirkulin. Where do we see the advantages of a merger? ▶️ The similar business strategy of both companies in terms of business orientation, business model, distribution channels and locations. ▶️ Most of the product categories are complementary. This increases the range of health products from a single source for end consumers and retail partners. ▶️The attractive private label business of WindStar Medical is new for Merz Lifecare and complements the existing business strategy. The transaction is expected to be completed at the beginning of 2025 once all regulatory approvals, in particular the relevant merger control clearances, have been obtained. The previous majority owner, Oakley Capital, will retain a minority stake in Merz Lifecare holding company. This underlines the mutual commitment and interest in the commercial success of the companies. We have had many intensive discussions in a spirit of partnership. They were conducted with the aim of developing both companies strategically and successfully in the long term. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the good result! Above all, we would like to thank the Merz shareholders, who made this milestone in our company's history possible, for their great trust and support. We are now looking ahead with optimism and are also looking forward to getting to know our new WindStar Medical Group colleagues. Here's to an even stronger, healthier future together! 👉Further information can be found here in the press release: https://lnkd.in/eFKtsE42 #MerzLifecare #Merz #WindStarMedical #Oakley #OTC

Inner Beauty Shines with a Win ✨ We’re thrilled to announce that our #MerzSpezialDragees have won the Tina Ageless Beauty Award 2024 in the “Inner Beauty” category! Here’s why this is such a big deal for us: 🔸The award is given by a diverse panel of beauty experts, including readers of Tina magazine. 🔸Seals of approval are especially important in the beauty segment - they help people navigate a vast and ever-changing market. 🔸This honor is the perfect birthday gift for us since Merz Spezial Dragees are celebrating 60 years of beauty innovation this year! Since 1964, Merz Spezial has been a beauty pioneer, promoting “Beauty from Within” long before it became a trend. Our dragees feature a unique beauty formula packed with essential nutrients for smooth skin, shiny hair, and strong nails—and have been loved for generations. To celebrate our 60th anniversary, we’ve relaunched the dragees with a fresh new design, packaging, and communication campaign. Winning the Tina Ageless Beauty Award 2024 proves we’re right on track! This recognition will also be part of our upcoming communications. A huge thank you to the jury panel, the Tina readers, and the team at Bauer Advance KG, Michael Linke, and Reinhard Baum for this incredible award. Special shoutout to our colleagues Inga Ahrens and Stefanie Wolff, who accepted the award on our behalf last week! #MerzSpezialDragees #BeautyFromWithin #InnerBeauty #TABA2024

"Beautiful You." With this slogan, we’re celebrating a very special 60th anniversary. And what exactly are we celebrating? Our Merz Spezial Dragees! Since 1964, Merz Spezial has been a trailblazer in beauty from within. Today, natural beauty and self-care are valued more than ever, and Merz Spezial has been a cherished contributor to beautiful skin, hair, and nails for decades. This year, we're excited to commemorate the 60th anniversary of our iconic Merz Spezial Dragees with a special beauty initiative: 🔸 Visual Communication: Our new brand campaign, themed "Beautiful You," showcases real women who confidently embrace their natural beauty, radiating a special glow. 🔸Design: The Merz Spezial portfolio boasts a fresh new look, with updated bottle and packaging designs that emphasize the distinctiveness of our brand identity. 🔸Target Audience: This makeover also appeals to a younger audience who value understated, modern elegance. 🔸 Anniversary Campaign: Throughout the year, we’re investing in a comprehensive cross-channel campaign - spanning digital, print, TV, PR, and social media - to amplify the Merz Spezial brand presence and deepen our connection with our consumers. A huge thank you to the Merz Lifecare team for their daily commitment, our strong retail partners for decades of support, and most importantly, our loyal consumers! Together, we look forward to another successful 60 years of inner beauty 👩🦰✨ 👉 Check out our beauty channels: www.merz-spezial.de Instagram: https://lnkd.in/eCPDattM #MerzLifecare #MerzSpezialDragees #MerzSpezial #Anniversary

#Water is the essence of life, a fact we all know. But what is Merz Lifecare doing to protect this vital resource, both globally and locally? In 2022 we started a cooperation with WWF Deutschland to launch an important freshwater initiative in #Tanzania, aiming to preserve the Great Ruaha River. This river is a lifeline for half a million people and countless animals, including lions and giraffes. However, the Great Ruaha is unfortunately experiencing increasingly frequent droughts, with water flow ceasing for up to six months each year! Our project focused on improving local water management while working closely with the community. Here's what’s been accomplished so far: 💧670 individuals trained in responsible water resource management 🏞 54 vulnerable water sources identified, with 30 already protected 💦 18 key water users (large enterprises and small farmers) engaged across the table on sustainable water use 💬 workshops with 60 stakeholders from seven localities to explore alternative income sources beyond irrigated agriculture 🐟 120 people trained in beekeeping and aquaculture   After three years, this project ends for us and is now transitioning into the capable hands of WWF Tanzania and local communities. We're proud of the tangible progress that's been made and grateful to everyone who has contributed to this initiative. Locally, here in #Germany, we're also committed to water conservation. As a company, we use water in our production processes and in the use of our products, particularly in bath additives. 💧We're dedicated to reducing water consumption during manufacturing and 🌱ensuring our formulations are as biodegradable as possible to minimize groundwater impact. Stay tuned for updates on our progress in our next sustainability report! #MerzLifecare #Sustainability #Waterprotection #HealthyLifeandLiving

Working Poolside? About a year ago, we introduced the concept #workation. You might be wondering why, but the reason is simple: it aligns with our work culture. We wholeheartedly trust our employees, and empower them to take initiative and make a difference. For us, this translates into helping them strike a balance between their careers and personal lives. How does workation look for us? Each employee can work remotely from any EU country for up to 30 days per year. A workation can last between 3 and 15 workdays and can be combined with PTO/vacation days. How have employees utilized the offer so far? ▶️ No surprises here: the workation option has been enthusiastically embraced by our team! ▶️ Approximately 10% of our employees have taken advantage of this opportunity to date. ▶️ Workations have ranged from a few days up to three weeks. ▶️ Both employees with and without children have taken a workation ▶️ Most workations have occurred in either spring or summer. What has our experience been like as an employer? Exceptional! Business operations have continued smoothly, with no impact on performance. Instead, we‘ve been showered with gratitude and received positive feedback from our team! ✅ Our conclusion: Trusting our employees has proven to be the right decision! Thank you to everyone who has supported the implementation of workations and demonstrated their value as a contribution to #NewWork. 👉 For more information about Merz Lifecare Workation and other benefits we offer, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/eywwMhyR #MerzLifecare #HealthyLifeandLiving #Benefits #NewWork #Workation

Do we need resilience to bounce forward? Absolutely! As the world is changing faster than ever before, we must adapt, look ahead, and continually reinvent ourselves. We’re eager to take on this challenge because innovation is in our DNA. That’s why our Merz Lifecare Summit 2024 was themed “Our Future – Our Passion.” How do we want to shape our future, keep growing, and prepare for what lies ahead? ▶ We explored new markets, categories, and target groups. ▶ We were inspired to think creatively and experience those “aha” moments (which, believe it or not, aren’t as common as you’d think!).  @Henning Beck – thank you for the amazing keynote, which both impressed and motivated us! ▶ We "built" the future of MLC. @HelloAgile: Exploring the world of Lego beyond vehicles and towers was fascinating! ▶ We also took a look back at the recently concluded fiscal year, which was historically successful in many ways! ▶ We connected with colleagues from all over the DACH region & we celebrated together 🥂 As we kick off this new fiscal year, we will continue to actively and passionately shape our future. We’re excited for everyone who will join us on this journey! #MerzLifeCare #MerzLifeCareSummit24 #HealthyLifeAndLiving #TeamEvent

“Make Good Things Happen!”   This was the theme of our first ever Merz Lifecare #CorporateVolunteeringDay. On this day, employees from all our locations had the opportunity to actively participate in various projects with several non-profit organizations (NPOs).    How did it go? Words can’t express how awesome it was! We worked in gardens and helped with planting, tilled the soil, beautified a daycare, built shelters, took pictures of seniors, assisted at food banks, and the list goes on! What did we gain from it? So, so much! ✅ The results speak for themselves: paintings, fences, signs, sorted crates of produce, and more. ✅ Shifts in perspective: We broadened our horizons by stepping outside ourselves and our usual routines.  ✅ New skills: For instance, we mastered the art of building a terrace shelter. ✅ Embracing the great outdoors: Venturing beyond the office walls and heading out into nature was revitalizing! ✅ Team spirit: Strengthening bonds with colleagues in new and different ways. ✅ Office ideas: “Perhaps we could cultivate a community vegetable garden in our courtyard?!” ✅ Sore muscles: Feeling the physical effects of our dedicated efforts! 🧡 And the best part? The warmth and gratitude we received from everyone we helped!   We also received fantastic feedback from the NPOs! They praised us as exceptional volunteers who jumped right in with cheerfulness, dedication, and motivation – which is exactly how we embody Merz Lifecare’s spirit! ;-)   So, to everyone who took part (despite the hot weather), a HUGE THANK YOU!! You made good things happen 🧡   We’d also like to express our deep gratitude to our partner vostel volunteering UG, whose expertise and dedication to the cause shone brightly in the fantastic job they did organizing this Corporate Volunteering Day with and for us. And, of course, a massive shout out to all of the NPOs that made this day possible. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts, and we can’t wait to do it again!   👉 For more information about our social initiatives, check out the Merz Lifecare Sustainability Report: https://lnkd.in/e4Jg_wEQ     #MerzLifecare #HealthyLifeandLiving #CorporateVolunteering #MakeGoodThingsHappen

Last Tuesday was Diversity Day!   Together with many other companies, we at Merz Lifecare used the day to show the flag for diversity. Once more, we welcomed our diversity-guru Anna Engers to give an inspiring keynote on the topics of communication, gender and appreciation. A great impulse to reflect once more how important these topics are in our everyday company life and in our collaboration with each other… and how we all can still do a better job in it. Because living diversity, means respecting the individual.   When was the last time you’ve been giving a colleague a compliment? Telling them how important they are for the success and well-being of the company and the team? And what precisely in their behavior makes them so important? Anna encouraged us to do so by writing down compliments on post-its and sticking them on each other's backs. A small but thoughtful compliment can do so much! Both for the person receiving it and for the person giving it. A very recommendable exercise!   #DDT24 #Communication #DistributeMoreCompliments #Appreciation #MerzLifecare #Diversity 

#Women in #leadership positions: What structures in companies can support women's careers? Why is part-time work sometimes an obstacle to a career? In which way can women enrich leadership teams? Do we need quotas? What role can our own self-conception play? What’s about women at Merz Lifecare? Our CEO Xenia Barth answers these and many other interesting questions in an interview with Kienbaum in a “Top Leaders in Portrait” series. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gd6HkQsn #FrauenInFührung #WomenLeadership #Vereinbarkeit #GenderEquality #Selbstverständnis #Selfconception #MerzLifecare  

#EarthDay 🌎 What are we doing to protect the Earth, especially from plastic?    At Merz Lifecare, we take responsibility protecting the earth and act thereby in line with our purpose, “Empowering Healthy Life and Living.” Because people’s health is fundamentally connected to the health of the planet.    The theme of this year’s Earth Day is “Planet vs. Plastics,” demanding a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.    We also use plastic for our product packaging. Avoiding or reducing this isn’t as simple as we’d like it to be, but we’re working intensively on it!    ✅ Reduce: For instance, in FY22/23, we saved 6 tons of plastic by eliminating plastic capsules in bath products.  ✅ Replace: At present, 41% of our plastic packaging consists of recycled materials. Our goal by 2030: 70%.  ✅ Recycle: As of now, about 1/3 of our plastic packaging is recyclable. Our goal by 2030: 90%.    But that’s not all! We’re also implementing measures within our company:    💦 Glass, not plastic: We use refillable glass bottles in house for both our team and our guests.  🌿 Cleanup campaigns: Once a year, our team volunteer to collect litter near our location in Frankfurt.  📚 Education: We provide our team with information and expertise on sustainability through ESG training sessions and the AWorld App.    Together, let’s work towards reducing plastic on our planet!   For more information:    👉 Merz Lifecare Sustainability Report: https://lnkd.in/eg9CjsZS 👉 Earth Day: https://lnkd.in/e7ZAFJUZ #EarthDay #MerzLifecare #HealthyLifeAndLiving #Sustainability #Nachhaltigkeit