Tupperware Plans to Buy Beauty Products Firm

Tupperware Corp. said it will acquire BeautiControl Inc., a direct seller of beauty and nutritional products, marking the company’s first venture beyond its core business of food-storage containers and kitchen wares. Tupperware agreed to pay $60 million in cash, or $7 a share, for Carrollton, Texas-based BeautiControl. Shares of BeautiControl were halted at $3.75 on Nasdaq. Tupperware made the announcement after markets closed. Its shares closed off 19 cents at $19.94 on the NYSE. Tupperware chose to move into cosmetics because of its high-growth potential, especially in Latin America, said Chief Executive Rick Goings, a former executive at Avon Products Inc. BeautiControl has a sales force of 50,000 independent consultants who make their sales at home parties and on the Internet. The 20-year-old company had retail sales of $130 million last year. In recent years, Tupperware, which had $1 billion in sales last year, has moved beyond selling its wares only at Tupperware parties. The company now sells its products at shopping mall kiosks, over the Internet and on the Home Shopping Network.