March 4, 2021

The Pandemic Hasn’t Slowed the Beauty Takeovers

The pandemic has slowed a lot of things down! Travel, shipments, and life but beauty mergers and acquisitions are still going strong! One of the biggest deals this year was Estee Lauder finally acquiring the rest of Deciem in an investment that cost them 2.2 billion dollars. Makes you wander what Brandon Truaxe would think about that eh?

Another interesting move was Shiseido striking a 1.5 billion deal with CVC Capital Partners in a join venture that closed this July. This frees the parent company up to chase more higher-end beauty options in the future. This may also translate to making them a major competitor to Estee Lauder and L’Oreal in the future.

Here’s a few other interest beauty mergers and acquisitions that happened recently.

Cathay Capital took a major stake in Juliette Has a Gun. Noteworthy: After this Juliette Has a Gun suddenly started venturing outside of fragrance hmmmm!

Coty closed in on KKW Beauty with a 20% percent stake that cost them 200 million. Coty is keeping in the family I guess considering they recently purchased a major stake in Kyle Cosmetics as well!

Many of Shiseido personal brands from Japan like Uno (you totally remember Orlando Bloom in those awesome Japanese Fiber Neo commercials right?!) and Tsubaki were transferred over to CVC Capital.

There’s also the major deals of Sephora opening up mini stores in Kohl’s and of course the Ulta locations opening at Target.
2020 was a crazy year but the beauty deals are still going strong.

I wonder what we can expect next….!

8 Comments

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • kjh

    Venture capitalists, like sharks, can smell blood in 3ppmillion. The sharks are done thrashing around the failures and bad quarterly earnings report and are biting their targets. Sounds as if the Shiseido is a money infusion for expansion, rather than underwriting a hostile takeover. We often remark how a brand nosedives when a big Corp gets them. That would be an interesting business school case. There are hella examples. Although the apparel market has done a 180 towards wfh and ‘loungewear,’there is not so much buzz on closures, takeovers, etc. However the b&m retail, which was tanking primarily for online reasons, has bottomed out with the lack of foot traffic during the pandemic. This kind of stuff is great from a distanced perspective, as a thinking exercise. But when you think of the personal cost to so many, esp in this environment, it’s dreadful and scary.

    • Eraser

      Absolutely – I’m researching department store history and that is a classic case of how these bloodthirsty holding companies ruined a stable long-standing business with consistent profits and tearing the hearts out of city centers by shuttering historic flagships. I’ve been talking to a lot of people, mainly former employees, so I can vouch for the extent of personal loss, both financial and emotional. It does seem like an abstract exercise until we consider how many people are affected, from the top executives to store clerks. Greed is not good.

  • MDW

    These acquisitions can be done relatively quietly right now? Because the world is looking at other things right now?

  • Abby

    This is my first time commenting, so I have to tell you I love your blog, posts, and content! Thank you for writing this post, very interesting to see what’s happening behind the scenes. With the recent news of Becca ceasing to exist, I wonder what other brands might follow suit!

    • Isabella Muse

      awww thank you Abby <3! Love ya! It is indeed interesting to see what's going on behind the scenes! I'm still in shock over becca!!!!!!!! It's going to be a rough year! Hopefully not too many brands fall!