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BENovember1993

By Sonja Mack | Published July 28, 2010 | Full size is 500 × 320 pixels

In 1993, Johnson Products is acquired by IVAX Corp. for a one-for-one stock swap valued at $67 million. The sale represents the first BE 100s manufacturer bought by a majority-owned corporation, beginning the decade-long takeover of black-owned haircare companies by major pharmaceutical and beauty aids conglomerates. The transaction also caused such a furor in African American community that Rainbow/Push called for a boycott and inspired the November 1993 cover story, “Should We Sell Our Firms To Whites?” Johnson would then be acquired by Carson, Inc. which, in turn, was bought by L’Oreal in 1998. By 2003, the company had changed hands again, becoming a unit of Procter & Gamble. (Image: Joan and Joan Johnson on the cover of Black Enterprise, November 1993)

In 1993, Johnson Products is acquired by IVAX Corp. for a one-for-one stock swap valued…