EOY Deal Flurry 💰

Happy New Year, friends! After a brief but much-needed respite, it’s good to back with you in newsletterland.

Since it’s only January 2nd and not much has happened yet, today’s newsletter covers what we missed at the end of December. Here’s a preview:

• Unilever scoops up K18 💯

• Shiseido makes a move 👀

• Pernod sells bitters brand 🥃

• Lumē is growing fast 📈

• Hum heads to Target 🎯

If you enjoy this edition of the newsletter, please forward it to anyone else who might enjoy it. We don’t do any marketing so word-of-mouth AKA forwarding is essential 🙂 

EOY Deal Flurry 💰

While most calendar years end rather sluggishly, 2023 ended with a bang and a flurry of beauty deals. 

First, on December 22nd, consumer goods giant Unilever announced that it would acquire K18, a prestige haircare brand best known for its technology which is capable of reversing hair damage. K18 accomplishes this via a proprietary molecule — the K18Peptide — which mimics the human keratin structure to reverse chemical damage on all hair types in minutes. 

Founded in 2020 by Suveen Sahib and Britta Cox, K18 boasts a portfolio of six products and expects to close out 2023 with $300M of net sales. Though K18 initially focused on the professional channel right after it launched, they expanded beyond salons in 2021 by launching at Sephora, then rolled out at Target, Walmart, Ulta Beauty, and many others. 

Vasiliki Petrou, Unilever Prestige CEO, said: “We are thrilled to continue to grow our Unilever Prestige portfolio in high-growth premium spaces with the addition of K18. This acquisition complements our fast-growing portfolio of premium, culturally-relevant consumer brands. What Suveen, Britta, and the team have created is a testament to the importance of brands built on unparalleled science, product efficacy, and community love.”

Unilever has been busy reimagining its portfolio to focus on premium brands and higher growth categories. Four days prior to the K18 announcement, Unilever sold Elida Beauty — home to some valuable but ancient brands like Brut, Q-tips, and VO5 — to private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners for an undisclosed sum. 

Earlier in 2023, Unilever sold one of its larger haircare businesses, Suave North America, once again to Yellow Wood Partners, and also divested Dollar Shave Club which they acquired for $1B in 2016. 

Second, Japanese beauty conglomerate Shiseido agreed to acquire prestige skincare brand Dr. Dennis Gross on December 22nd. 

Founded in 2000 by Dr. Dennis Gross, a practicing dermatologist and skin cancer researcher, and his wife, Carrie Gross, the brand is best known for its Alpha Beta Peel product which launched at Sephora more than two decades ago. 

Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, but revenue for Dr. Dennis Gross was reportedly around $300M for 2023. Dr. Dennis Gross joins an impressive stable of beauty brands at Shiseido which includes Clé de Peau Beauté, Drunk Elephant, Gallinée, NARS, and many others. Additionally, via their recently unveiled venture arm, Shiseido has backed Australian personal care brand Patricks, and San Francisco-based skincare brand Phyla.

Sales tax isn’t everyone’s cup of tea 📠

Shark Tank brand The Woobles tried managing sales tax themselves. While it was fine early on, they grew faster than ever, and soon Adrian (co-founder) was wasting dozens of hours on spreadsheets, trying to figure out sales tax.

They tried using Avalara but it fell short as well. That’s when they switched to Numeral and haven’t looked back since.

Read the full store here.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• French spirits firm Pernod Ricard has sold Czech bitters brand Becherovka. The buyer is Maspex, a food & beverage firm that operates in Central & Eastern Europe. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, but Pernod expected the liqueur brand to fetch around $300M. Reuters

• Hong Kong-based DayDayCook (DDC) has acquired Yai’s Thai, a Denver-based maker of better-for-you Thai sauces and marinades. Yai’s Thai expects to finish 2023 with $8M-10M in sales. DDC has been busy building their U.S. Asian foods platform — in August they acquired Nona Lim for an undisclosed sum. Food Business News

Fundraising

• Still Austin, an Austin-based craft whiskey distillery, secured $5.6M in funding from undisclosed investors. Still Austin is best known for their craft bourbons but they also produce an American gin. Twitter

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• NERRĀ, a new prestige body care brand that's inspired by hammam bathing practices, officially launched with four products. The packaging is brilliant IMO. Instagram

• Neuro, a purveyor of functional gum and mint products, launched a new line of sleep aids called Sleep & Recharge Meltaway Mints. Instagram

• Popular apparel brand Alo Yoga has expanded their wellness line with three new supplements. Alo also announced that Jimmy Butler and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will be celebrity ambassadors for Alo Wellness. WWD

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Chameleon Cold Brew, the Austin-based coffee brand that Nestlé sold to SYSTM Foods in 2022, launched its first-ever canned coffee line. The three canned cold brews are inspired by popular Girl Scout Cookie flavors. Love this licensing agreement for Chameleon — they’ve lost a bit of momentum lately so expanding into cans in addition to partnering with Girl Scouts ought to help turn things around. PR Newswire

• Fast-growing beverage brand Lemon Perfect is going BIG. The company is ditching their original 12 oz bottles and replacing ‘em with 15.2 oz bottles. They also launched three new flavors: Blueberry, Coconut, and Watermelon. PR Newswire

• Oobli, a food tech startup that uses sweet proteins to create sweet yet low-sugar confectionery products, unveiled a new line of better-for-you Milk Chocolate Bars. Four flavors are available. Fantastic packaging, too. Oobli

Data 🖥️

• Hypoallergenic deodorant brand Lumē has been growing fast since Harry’s acquired it in late 2021. Sales in 2021 were around $100M, and Lumē finished 2023 with net sales of over $300M. Incredible. Twitter

Distribution News 🚚

• Wellness brand HUM Nutrition is now available nationwide at Target.

• Fly By Jing launched their Sichuan Chili Crisp product at Costco across the east coast.

• Non-alcoholic aperitif brand De Soi is now available nationwide at Sprouts Farmers Market.