Mala McAlpin L’Occitane International S.A. announced this week that it is set to acquire UK skincare giant Elemis for $900 million USD from Steiner Leisure Limited, a portfolio company of L Catterton. The deal is reportedly the group’s largest acquisition to date, and is expected to be finalised this quarter.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Occitane, Reinold Geiger said of the acquisition “We are pleased to welcome the Elemis business, brand and people to the L’Occitane family. It is a major step forward for L’Occitane in building a leading portfolio of premium beauty brands. Elemis is well positioned for continued global growth due to the brand’s broad appeal, award-winning product portfolio, robust new product development pipeline and effective consumer-focused digital and brick-and-mortar distribution strategy. We have long admired Elemis for their commitment to natural ingredients and scientific innovation, and we look forward to utilizing our expertise in the category to expand the brand’s footprint around the world.”
Sean Harrington, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Elemis, said he was thrilled with the new buyers and looked forward to their future expansion of the brand. “We are thrilled to announce this agreement with L’Occitane, which will strengthen the continued growth and momentum behind our timeless brand and remarkably transformative products. Reinold Geiger has a strong history of developing and supporting brands like ours that are creating products sourced from nature and developed through cutting edge science and technology. With his inspiring and entrepreneurial leadership, I am confident that through this transaction, we can continue to realise our mission of delivering extraordinary products and experiences and grow Elemis into one of the leading skincare brands in the world.”
Elemis arrived on the market in 1990 with, as co-founder Noella Gabriel describes it, “lifestyle concept with products including everything from bath, body and aromatherapy to high-performance skincare,” with a focus on natural ingredients and scientific innovation. It is perhaps for this reason Elemis has remained popular with a broad spectrum of age groups, including Millennials. It is currently the number one British skincare brand, and is stocked at over 1600 day spas, Steiner cruise ship spas, salons and online retailers around the globe.
We look forward to witnessing the upcoming growth of the brand under new ownership, especially here in Australia, as according to Geiger, Elemis “has enormous growth potential in untouched markets and channels, particularly in Asia Pacific.”
For more news and updates, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
