Shiseido Company, Limited has announced three key changes to its organizational structure in the U.S. designed to strengthen corporate support for its diverse family of innovative brands and provide an improved platform to accelerate their growth both in the U.S. and globally.

The company will align the U.S. finance, legal and human resources functions of its premier consumer brands, including Bare Escentuals, Beauté Prestige International USA, NARS, and Shiseido, into a unified, shared services platform. It also announced the consolidation of U.S. distribution operations for most of its brands at its distribution center in Columbus, OH, which will become the Shiseido Americas Distribution Center. Finally, the company announced plans to formally merge its U.S. manufacturing business, Shiseido America Inc., into its Americas umbrella organization, Shiseido Americas Corporation.

“Together these changes create a seamless, world class corporate, manufacturing and distribution platform in the U.S. that will benefit all of our brands in the region,” said Carsten Fischer, representative director and chief operating officer global business of Shiseido Company Ltd. and chairman and CEO Shiseido Americas Corporation.

Commenting specifically on the alignment of back office and administrative functions, which is effective immediately, Fischer continued, “We are committed to preserving each brand’s unique character and individual spirit, and we expect this shared services platform will better position each of the brands for future growth by providing world class support in the U.S. By combining the back office strengths of our various brands, each can become a stronger player in the U.S. as well as globally, and the company can more efficiently and effectively serve its valued partners and customers.”

The company has also begun the process of streamlining its U.S. distribution operations and expects to complete the facility consolidation by the end of the third quarter of 2013. The Columbus center will expand its operations to handle shipment of products to the Americas and globally for multiple brands. A smaller distribution center to be established at the company’s existing manufacturing facility in East Windsor, New Jersey, will handle export of U.S.-manufactured Shiseido brand products to Europe and Asia.