L’Oréal to acquire Australian Beauty Company Aēsop
L'Oréal disclosed that it had reached an agreement with Natura&Co to buy the upscale Australian
beauty company Aēsop. Aēsop's enterprise value, according to the proposed transaction, is USD 2.525 billion.
Aēsop, which was founded in 1987, is well known throughout the world for its skin, hair, and body products.
Aēsop has developed into a global super brand with its distinctive amber packaging, plant-based ingredients, sustainable vegan formulations, and bespoke customer service. It is now available in luxury retail, beauty, and hospitality locations around the world.
A-sop currently has 400 points of sale spread out across the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. It is just beginning to establish a presence in China, where the first store is scheduled to open in 2022.
In 2022, the company reported sales of 537 million USD.
Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer, L’Oréal Groupe, said, “I am very excited to welcome Aēsop and its teams to the L’Oréal Groupe family. Aēsop is the epitome of avant-garde beauty, whose products are not only made with great care and exceptional attention to detail; they are a superb combination of urbanity, hedonism and undeniable luxury.
Aēsop taps into all of today’s ascending currents and L’Oréal will contribute to unleash its massive growth potential, notably in China and Travel retail.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Cyril Chapuy, President of L’Oréal Luxe, added, “My Team and I are thrilled to have Aēsop join the L’Oréal Luxe portfolio of iconic global brands. Aēsop holds a very unique positioning on the global luxury beauty market thanks to its design led brand essence, its highly efficacious and sensorial products as well as its customer-obsessed retail philosophy.
We look forward to welcoming Aēsop’s CEO Michael O’Keeffe and his experienced and passionate teams to continue to grow together the brand’s remarkable potential, by carrying on cultivating its uniqueness and its values. We have great confidence that Aēsop will join the L’Oréal Luxe Billionaire brands club and therefore contribute significantly to the growth of the Division in the years to come.”
Fábio Barbosa, Chief Executive Officer of Natura &Co,said: “The divestment of Aēsop marks a new development cycle for Natura &Co. With a strengthened financial structure and a deleveraged balance sheet, Natura &Co, exercizing strict financial discipline, will be able to sharpen its focus on its strategic priorities, notably our investment plan in Latin America.
We will also be able to concentrate on continuing to improve The Body Shop’s business and refocusing Avon International’s footprint. We are proud of the remarkable success of the Aēsop brand, and we are extremely grateful to all Aēsop’s associates, who contributed immensely not only to Aēsop’s success, but also to making Natura &Co what it is today.
We are confident that Aēsop’s growth story will continue under the ownership of L’Oréal and wish Aēsop continued success in this new chapter.”
The closing is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
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