Henkel has just signed an agreement to acquire Deva Parent Holdings, which owns the professional hair care brand DevaCurl.

Since 1994, DevaCurl has offered vegan and natural products tailored to curly and wavy hair types. DevaCurl has never tested on animals, and hasn’t yet entered the Chinese market.

“This acquisition is part of our strategy to expand our position in attractive and fast-growing markets and categories. It will complement and further strengthen our Hair Professional business.” Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen.

Henkel already owns hair care brand Schwartzkopf, which offers many drugstore hair products such as the got2be line, Gliss Kur shampoos, and hair dye.

Henkel is not a cruelty-free company and may use animal tests under some circumstances. From their animal testing policy:

“Wherever legally possible, we demonstrate the safety of our products and the ingredients we use through existing data or through accepted alternative test methods, thus avoiding animal testing.

Henkel only ever uses such tests if required by legal regulations or if no accepted alternative test methods are available for obtaining the necessary safety data.”

It’s currently unknown whether DevaCurl will remain cruelty-free or inherit Henkel’s animal testing policy. We will monitor the brand closely during the upcoming months and keep you informed.