Skin care is an acquisitive sector and a key category of interest to private equity firms around the world. This post will highlight some of the most acquisitive PE firms in skincare globally. Note that we are focusing on control investments and full buyouts rather than minority investments and growth capital. Note also that while there is significant overlap between cosmetics and skin care, we have excluded makeup (this will be included in a future analysis on PE in the beauty sector). Acquirers of various structures and sizes are profiled and categorised from largest to smallest within each section, with a longer list of private equity firms below. Finally, we have highlighted a small number of selected strategic buyers in skincare at the end of this post.

Yellow Wood Partners’ acquisition of ChapStick was one of the best skin care deals of 2024 so far

Consumer Products-Focused Private Equity Firms

The private equity firms that are focused exclusively on consumer retail are a diverse group, ranging from relatively small firms with less than $1bn AUM to large firms like TSG Consumer and L Catterton; the group includes both traditional funds and family offices; it includes firms that are focused on consumer products across many categories, those that are focused on broad categories like health and personal care and others that are focused narrowly on “skin care”.

We have profiled selected firms below, with a longer list towards the bottom of this post.

L Catterton

L Catterton is a global private equity firm with approximately $34bn of assets under management, investing exclusively in consumer brands across Europe, Asia, Latin America and China. L Catterton generally looks to make equity investments of $10m - $150m across its different funds, with the exception of its flagship Buyout fund that targets $75m - $500m equity investments in North America and Europe. Its portfolio currently includes multiple hair care, beauty, cosmetics, and skin care brands.

In 2023, L Catterton established Elevate Beauty, a platform dedicated to investing in early-stage beauty and wellness brands. L Catteron has stated it has seen strong secular tailwinds driving consumer demand in the aesthetics category.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions:

Functionalab - January 2023: Functionalab operates Canada's largest network of medical aesthetics clinics and produces a proprietary line of skin care products.

Yellow Wood Partners

Yellow Wood Partners is a private equity firm based in Boston, Massachusetts with $2.1bn in assets under management, and invests exclusively in consumer brands. Yellow Wood Partners’ current portfolio has a clear focus on beauty and personal care, containing notable brands such as Suave, a personal care brand it acquired from Unilever in May 2023, and global footcare brands Dr. Scholl's.

Yellow Wood Partners looks to make equity investments of $15m-$350m and are size agnostic for add-on acquisitions. Yellow Wood Partners is actively looking for add-on acquisitions in beauty and personal care.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions:

ChapStick - January 2024: ChapStick is a leading lip balm brand which was acquired for $510m by Yellow Wood Partners’ portfolio company Suave.
Byoma - May 2020: A skin care company based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Freeman Beauty - August 2017: Beauty and skin care company founded in 1979 in Los Angeles, California.

Hildred Capital Management

Hildred is a New York City-based private equity firm with $1.47bn of assets under management, focused on middle-market healthcare companies in the US and Canada. Its ideal equity investment size is from $25m-$75m. Since 2017, it has held a majority stake in portfolio company Crown Laboratories, a global skin care company with products sold through both OTC and aesthetic channels.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions

StriVectin - August 2021: Hildred-baked Crown Laboratories acquired StriVectin from L Catterton. StriVectin is a prestige skin care company focused on anti-aging and skin-repair products.
Vita Liberata - January 2018: Hildred-backed Crown Laboratories acquired Vita Liberata, an Ireland-based organic skin care and cosmetics company specializing in self-tanning products.

Hildred aims to continue strengthening Crown’s overall skin care product portfolio which consists of Crown Aesthetics, Crown Therapeutics, and Crown Premium Skincare.

Tengram Capital Partners

Founded in 2008, Tengram Capital Partners is a private equity firm that focuses exclusively on middle-market consumer and retail companies that own strong recognizable brands. Tengram seeks to invest in the manufacturing, beauty, and consumer non-durables sectors in the United States. Its portfolio includes a number of skin care and personal care brands including HRB Brands, which is one of the largest independent branded personal care companies in North America.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions

HRB Brands - June 2021: HRB is a provider of personal care products in North America, known for managing a portfolio of personal care brands such as Zest, VO5, Coast, and more.
RéVive - November 2017: Tengram acquired RéVive from Shiseido Americas. RéVive is a skin care company founded in 1997 in New York, offering a range of anti-aging skin care products.
Algenist - August 2016: Algenist is a prestige skin care company with a focus on anti-aging and colour correcting products, founded in 2011 in Glendale, California.
This Works - May 2015 (realized): This Works is a UK based natural skin care company founded in 2003. Canopy Growth acquired This Works from Tengram in 2019 for $73.8 million.

Famille C Participations

Famille C Participations, based in Paris, is the family investment office of the Courtin family, focused on the beauty and wellness sectors. The Courtin family notably own Clarins, a French multinational cosmetics company.

Famille C Participations has made a number of acquisitions in the beauty and and wellness space in recent years and is committed to promoting continued innovation in the category.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions

Pai - April 2023: A UK-based organic skin care brand focusing on products for sensitive skin. Famille C Participations acquired a controlling stake in Pai just 2 years after investing a minority stake in the company.

ILIA - March 2022: Founded in 2011, Ilia is a Los Angeles-based clean beauty and skin care brand.

Manzanita Capital

Manzanita Capital is a London-based private equity firm (and a family office of the Fisher family), investing exclusively in the beauty sector across the UK, Europe, US, and Asia. Manzanita invests in luxury and premium niche brands and platforms that show potential for strong growth.

Manzanita’s current portfolio emphasises skin care and fragrance brands, including notable acquisitions such as Susanne Kaufmann, a natural skin care brand, in 2019; (MALIN+GOETZ), another natural skin care brand, in January 2015; and Eve Lom, a luxury skin care brand specialised in facial cleansers, in May 2013. Eve Lom was later sold to Yatsen, a holding company for Chinese beauty brands.

Manzanita acquired Diptyque, a French perfume house known for its candles and fragrances, in 2005. Post-acquisition, Manzanita expanded Diptyque's offerings to include a line of natural body and skin care products, integrating its expertise in both fragrances and skin care. The most recent addition to their fragrance collection is D.S. & Durga, a Brooklyn-based niche fragrance brand acquired in February 2024

Relevant Skin Care Activity:

Susanne Kaufmann - October 2019: Susanne Kaufmann is a natural skin care brand, with a focus on locally sourced ingredients.
(MALIN+GOETZ) - January 2015: (MALIN+GOETZ) is a skin care company focused on using natural ingredients to create uncomplicated premium skin care that is suitable for all skin types.
Eve Lom - May 2013: Eve Lom is a luxury skin care brand specialising in facial cleansers. Yatsen later acquired Eve Lom in 2021, with Manzanita retaining a minority stake in the business and serving as a strategic partner going forward.

Damier Group

Damier is a family led investment company that focuses on branded consumer sectors in Europe, with particular interest in the consumer healthcare space.

In 2022, Damier established TOCG (The Organic Consumer Group), a platform aimed at consolidating the European natural / organic beauty and personal care market. TOCG has made 2 acquisitions since it was established and is seeking additional opportunities in the beauty and personal care category.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions:

La Saponaria - January 2024: Italian based beauty and skin care company, founded in 2007.
Dr. Organic - August 2021: Based in Wales, Dr. Organic is a specialist in the natural and organic personal care sector. It was previously owned by The Bountiful Company (controlled by investment funds KKR and Carlyle).

Diversified Private Equity Firms

Some of the largest global diversified investment firms are active in the skin care category. While these firms invest across multiple sectors, their dedicated consumer sector funds are often larger than the entire AUM (assets under management) of smaller firms.

The Carlyle Group

*BeautyCounter - acquired by Carlyle Group*

The Carlyle Group is a mega-cap global investment firm that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Global Investment Solutions. Caryle has $426bn assets under management (across all three segments) and its $161bn private equity business is one of the world’s largest PE platforms, spanning a number of industries and geographies.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions

Beautycounter - April 2021: Carlyle acquired Beautycounter, a clean beauty and skin care brand, founded in 2013. The transaction valued the company at $1bn.

Advent International

Advent International is a independent private equity partnership founded in 1984 with $94bn of assets under management. Advent invests across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia in five core sectors: Business & Financial Services; Healthcare; Industrial; Retail, Consumer & Leisure; Technology. Advent generally look to make equity investments from $50m - $2bn.

In December 2021, Advent launched Orveon, a collective of iconic cosmetics brands, bareMinerals, BUXOM and Laura Mercier, which it acquired from Shiseido.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisition:

bareMinerals - December 2021: Launched in 1995, bareMinerals is the leader in mineral-based cosmetics and is considered the creator of “clean beauty”.
BUXOM - December 2021: Created in 2007, BUXOM is a color cosmetics brand.
Laura Mercier - December 2021: Laura Mercier is a prestige makeup and skin care brand founded in 1996 and pioneered the natural, “flawless face” category.

Bridgepoint

Bridgepoint is a private asset growth investor, specialising in private equity and private debt with a strong local presence in Europe, the US and China. Bridgepoint private equity has over €41bn of assets under management and focuses on investing in middle-market businesses via three distinct fund strategies:

Middle Market, implemented via Bridgepoint’s flagship buyout fund, which focuses on investing in market-leading businesses typically valued between €250 million and €1 billion across four verticals: Advanced Industrials, Business & Financial Services, Consumer and Healthcare - with Technology as a horizontal.
Small Mid Cap, implemented via Bridgepoint Development Capital, which focuses making equity investments typically between £40m and £125m in buyouts and growth capital investments across Europe. Its focus is on businesses in following sectors: Advanced Industrials, Business and Financial Services, Consumer, and Healthcare, all underpinned by Technology.
Small Cap, which makes equity investments of typically between £10 million and £25 million in mainly UK and Nordic-based businesses in the technology, business services and consumer sectors. Small cap invests alongside founders and managers in growth buyout and significant minority transactions.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions:

RoC Skincare - January 2024: RoC was founded in 1957 in Paris and was one of the largest independent skin care brands worldwide. Bridgepoint agreed to buy RoC Skincare from Gryphon Investors in a deal worth around $500m.

Inflexion

Inflexion is a European mid-market private equity firm based in London and founded in 1999. It has £10bn of assets under management and typically invests between £10m and £500m of equity in high growth businesses across all sectors.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisition:

Medik8 - February 2021: Inflexion invested in in Pangaea Laboratories, a global beauty business and owner of the Medik8 skin care brand. Medik8 is a premium UK based beauty and skin care brand focused on skin-ageing products.

ShawKwei & Partners

Founded in 1998, ShawKwei & Partners is a private equity firm with a focus on investing in asset-based B2B companies across a number of sectors including health and beauty. It has around $1bn of assets under management and operates across Asia, Europe, and the USA.

ShawKwei & Partners is actively looking for strategic acquisitions to grow its portfolio company ICONS Beauty Group, a cosmetic and beauty corporation serving the beauty and healthcare industry.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions

Rauxel - April 2022: Founded in 1986, Rauxel is a leading Australian beauty and healthcare company. It is a private label manufacturer of haircare and skin care products, specializing in botanicals and natural extracts. Rauxel was integrated into ShawKwei & Partners’ existing beauty and healthcare portfolio company, ICONS.

Gryphon Investors

Founded in 1995, Gryphon Investors is a San Francisco based private equity firm focused on middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. The firm has over $8.9bn of assets under management across business services, consumer products & services, healthcare, industrial growth and software.

Gryphon targets equity investments in the $50m - $300m range. Gryphon has stated it has ‘a proactive focus of investing behind leading efficacious skin care brands’.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions:

Revision Skincare - November 2021: Revision Skincare is a premium skin care company founded in 1984, based in Texas.
RoC Skincare - December 2018 (sold in 2024 to Bridgepoint Capital): RoC is a skin care company founded in 1957 in Paris.

BlueGem Capital Partners

BlueGem Capital Partners is a private equity firm specialised in the European consumer brands sector. BlueGem seeks equity investments of €30m - €60m across the following sectors: Consumer Health, Home Care, Baby Care, Food & Beverage, Pet Care, Beauty & Personal Care, Enthusiast Products.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions:

Ecooking - March 2021: Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Denmark, Ecooking is a luxury personal care brand offering a broad spectrum of skin, body and hair care products.
QMS Mediocosmetics - October 2017: Premium skin care brand founded in 1986 in Germany.

Tenth Avenue Holdings

Founded in 2008, Tenth Avenue Holdings is a diversified holding company operating and investing in privately and publicly held businesses. It focuses on the home & lifestyle, apparel & accessories, gifting, pet, and beauty categories. Tenth Avenue Holdings is actively seeking new acquisition opportunities in existing verticals at $10m+ in annual revenue and new verticals at $40m+ in annual revenue.

Relevant Skin Care Acquisitions

Under Your Skin - September 2022: Founded in 2016, Under Your Skin is a organic, natural, and vegan skin care brand with a range of hair, sensitive skin, and baby care products.

Other Noteworthy PE Acquirers in Skin Care

CVC Capital Partners - Luxembourg based private equity and credit firm with €186 billion AUM, investing across a highly diversified range of sectors. Partnered with Shiseido in the venture of Japan based personal care business, FineToday, featuring a strong portfolio of Asian personal care brands including skin care brands Senka, Uno, and Hadasui.
TSG Consumer Partners - California-based investment firm with over $16 billion AUM, focused on equity investments ranging from $100 million to $1 billion exclusively in the branded consumer sector. TSG has a diverse beauty and personal care portfolio, having previously owned skincare brands like Pevonia and Perricone, which have since been divested.
MidOcean Partners - New York based private equity firm with over $10 billion AUM, focused on making equity investments of $75 Million + in the consumer and business services sectors. Invested in Image Skincare since 2015.
Highlander Partners - Dallas-based private investment firm, managing over $3.0 billion in assets. The firm uniquely invests its own capital and operates without outside limited partners, focusing on direct, majority control investments. Acquired clean beauty skincare brand RMS Beauty in 2021.
Main Post Partners - Private equity firm focused on investing $50 – $250+ million in consumer companies. Previous investments in Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare which was later acquired by Shiseido Americas Corporation and hydrafacial.
North Castle Partners - A small cap consumer private equity firm focused in the healthy, active, and sustainable living sectors. Multiple skin care brands in its portfolio including DDF, gloProfessional, and a minority investment in Glow Recipe.
Prelude Growth Partners - New York City based firm focused on making investments of $10 million to $50 million in high potential, fast-growing consumer brands. Lead investor of multiple skin care brands currently in its portfolio including Summer Fridays, Skin Pharm, Tower 28, The Center, exited from Naturium.
Gemini Investors - Massachusetts based investor in the lower middle market generally providing $3 to $8 million per portfolio investment to acquire both control and minority positions. Acquired Bag Balm, a salve manufacturer used for chapped skin, alongside Timepiece in 2014.
Orange Dot Ventures - An independent sponsor based in Grand Rapids, MI with an interest in very small (sub-$10m) skin care brands.

The landscape of private equity investors in the skin care sector is changing all the time. For example Morgan Stanley PE (which is not known for skin care investments) recently acquired a majority stake in Korean beauty brand Skin Idea. At the time of writing, Blackstone is rumoured to be considering a bid for L’Occitane, itself an acquisitive player in skin care. We will update this list from time to time as new private equity acquirers rise to prominence.

Selected Strategic Buyers in Skin Care

Although this page is dedicated to private equity acquirers in skin care, we wanted to highlight a few strategic buyers. It would be impractical to attempt to provide a comprehensive list of strategic buyers since this group is so diverse, but the selected acquirers below are an interesting sample.

While many of the largest skin care conglomerates such as L’Oreal and Shiseido are obvious candidates for inclusion, a prominent acquirer that is not often included in such lists is Amorepacific. Founded in 1945, this South Korean beauty and cosmetics chaebol operates more than 30 beauty, personal care, and health brands, with the majority of its brands currently focused on skin care. Amorepacific is the second-largest cosmetics company in South Korea and one of the 10 largest cosmetics companies in the world. In November 2023, Amorepacific acquired CosRx, a skin care brand focused on providing solutions to people's specific skin care concerns. While discussing large strategics, it is notable that L’Occitane, mentioned briefly above, has engaged not only in large but quite small acquisitions in the skin care space.

Moving to diversified consumer goods companies, Church & Dwight has a portfolio that includes a number of prominent skin care and personal care brands, including Nair and Trojan. In September 2022, Church & Dwight acquired Hero Cosmetics for $630 million in one of the best exits of an independent skin care brand this decade. On the other side of the Atlantic, Unilever is one of the larger players in the sector, with a portfolio of well known brands including Paula’s Choice, which it acquired in 2021. THG Beauty is another strategic with an interest in skin care - it recently acquired Biossance from Amyris out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for $20 million.

In Italy, Naturalia Tantum, backed by Assietta Private Equity, is a lesser-known strategic buyer that is acquisitive in skin care. Another lesser-known strategic that is active in beauty and skin care at the lower end of the market is Skyline Beauty Group, based in New Jersey. Of its five brands, four are in skin care.

Strategic buyers are diverse and numerous - for smaller skin care brands there are literally hundreds of potential acquirers, but relatively few will have the right combination of available capital and strategic fit to make the acquisition. Working with an M&A advisory firm like Hahnbeck is critical in identifying the right buyers.

About Hahnbeck

Hahnbeck is a leading global M&A advisory firm specialising in the consumer products sector, including the personal care and skincare industries. With deep industry knowledge and a global network, we are ideally positioned to help business owners maximise value in the sale of their companies. If you're considering the sale of your skincare or personal care business and are looking for expert guidance and a strategic approach, contact us at info@hahnbeck.com for a confidential discussion.

Private Equity Acquirers in Skin Care

Consumer Products-Focused Private Equity Firms

Diversified Private Equity Firms

Other Noteworthy PE Acquirers in Skin Care

Selected Strategic Buyers in Skin Care

About Hahnbeck

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