Photo: Martin Köhler
Candle company PartyLite, now under the Luminex umbrella, is promoting its Europe President, Martin Köhler, to President of its worldwide operations.
Last year, PartyLite parent Blyth Inc. was acquired by The Carlyle Group, a New York-based private-equity firm. Carlyle announced in May that it was teaming with another asset manager, Centre Lane Partners, to create Luminex Home Décor & Fragrance, which now owns PartyLite and the Centre Lane-backed Candle-lite Company.
The arrangement is intended to leverage product development efforts and broaden consumer reach for both companies, which have different target groups and markets. As President, Köhler will help to build PartyLite’s business from this new platform. “I am certain that Martin will lead PartyLite to continued global success and open new avenues for the company,” Calvin Johnston, CEO of Luminex, said in the company’s announcement.
Köhler began his career at PartyLite on the communications side of the business, as head of marketing for PartyLite Germany. He also served as General Manager in Switzerland, and later in Germany, before becoming President of European operations in 2010. Under his leadership, Europe has become the top sales region for the company, which has 45,000 active consultants in 23 countries.
