Natura &Co Sells The Body Shop, Keychain Raises $18M 🥫

GM and Happy Thursday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

• Ecliptic Brewing acquired 🍻

• Stubble & Co scores funding 🎒

• Pronghorn backs more brands 🥃

• Alo opens first UK store 🆕

• On delivers massive quarter 📈

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• It’s official…Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura &Co has sold The Body Shop for roughly $257M plus a potential $112M earnout. The buyer is private equity firm Aurelius Group. The purchase price is considerably lower than the $500M that Natura &Co expected. I’ll be curious to see if Aurelius can turn things around at The Body Shop. It’s a solid brand with impressive distribution — 2,500 stores across more than 80 countries — so anything is possible. WWD

• Portland-based craft brewer Ecliptic Brewing was acquired by Great Frontier Holdings for an undisclosed sum. Great Frontier Holdings owns an impressive array of bev alc brands including Ninkasi Brewing, Wings & Arrow Beer Company, Villager Spirits, and others. Beer Street Journal

Fundraising

• Keychain, a manufacturing platform for the packaged goods industry, secured $18M in seed funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with participation from BoxGroup, Afore Capital, and SV Angel. The thesis behind Keychain is pretty straightforward. More than 20,000 manufacturers produce $500B worth of packaged goods in the U.S. per year, but finding the right contract manufacturer is difficult since it’s so fragmented and partnering is a rather arcane process. PR Newswire

• Stubble & Co, a UK-based seller of durable backpacks and duffel bags, closed a multi-million dollar round from Growth Partner. Stubble & Co launched in 2017 and anticipates over £10M in sales this year. The Industry

• Pronghorn, a Diageo-backed investor in black-owned spirits brands, invested in three more brands: Acquired Taste Cognac, Rally Gin, and New England Sweetwater Farm & Distillery. All three are women-led brands. The Spirits Business

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Alo, the fast-growing activewear brand that surpassed $1B in revenue last year, will open their first store in London tomorrow. Alo plans on opening two more stores in London in 2024, before leaping over the English Channel into Europe. Drapers

• Caftari, a new fragrance brand that utilizes “mood-boosting” neuroscents, officially launched with two products. A third product is on the way, too. Neuroscents, in short, were designed to activate neural pathways in order to trigger specific emotional responses. The functional fragrance space has been heating up. Vyrao, another fragrance brand with purported mood-boosting benefits, secured funding from Estee Lauder in March. WWD

• British fragrance brand Perfumer H collaborated with Choosing Keeping, a London-based stationery boutique, on a gorgeous collection of scented objects. The Scented Ink is a brilliant touch 🔽 Perfumer H 

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Popular energy drink brand GHOST is pushing into the RTD hydration space with GHOST Hydration Drink. Details on distribution and flavors are scarce, but it’s a great-looking bottle 🔽 Stack3d

• Chamberlain Coffee introduced some limited edition coffee products — Black Cherry Matcha Latte and Black Cherry Coffee — along with some very fun merch. The Relaxation Set is fantastic. Chamberlain Coffee

• Canadian beverage brand Cove expanded their range of gut-friendly sodas with three new flavors: Classic Cola, Cream Soda, and Root Beer. The branding is terrific IMO 🔽 Instagram 

• Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) is launching a new vodka-based hard tea brand called Sun Cruiser. Interestingly, Boston Beer already owns the #1 hard tea brand with Twisted Tea. Sun Cruiser seems like a play for older, more sophisticated consumers. Brewbound 

• SideDish, the better-for-you salad dressing brand founded by best-selling cookbook author Alex Snodgrass, unveiled their latest flavor — Miso Caesar. SideDish

• Oakland-based premium canned cocktail brand Phreshly unveiled a terrific brand refresh. I hear their products are great so I’m glad they elevated their branding experience. A vast improvement IMO. Instagram

Data 🖥️

• Swiss sportswear brand On delivered impressive Q3 results. Net sales surged 46.5% to CHF 480.5M with a net income margin of 12.2%. DTC sales jumped 54.6% while wholesale increased 42.6%. On is making waves in a very competitive category. Yahoo Finance

• Starco Brands is growing fast after their acquisition spree. Over the past year or so, Starco has acquired Soylent, clean fragrance brand Skylar, and personal care brand Art of Sport. For Q3, Starco posted net sales of $17.7M compared to $1.7M for Q3 of 2022. Business Wire

Distribution News 🚚

• Caraway, a purveyor of design-forward cookware and kitchenware, launched their entire collection storewide at The Container Store.

• Textured haircare brand Adwoa Beauty is now available globally at Sephora.

• UK-based skincare brand [coat]s launched at select CVS stores in the U.S.

• Better-for-you nutrition bar brand B.T.R. Nation launched at CIBO Express.

• Lo Siento Tequila launched at Pavilions in Southern California.