PAI Buys Haircare Platform, Outdoor Voices Quits Retail 🏦

CPG WIRE
March 19, 2024

Welcome back to This Week in CPG, folks. Hope y’all had a great weekend and an even better Monday.

Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions

French private equity firm PAI Partners is acquiring a majority stake in Beautynova, a Milan-based professional haircare platform that owns brands like Medavita, milk_shake, Depot, Urban Tribe, and others. PAI will pay €330M for a 51% stake in Beautynova. Financial Times
Popular wellness brand Goli is being acquired by a group of investors that includes Group KPS, Bastion Capital, and one of the company’s original founders. The transaction is part of a pre-packaged process under the CCAA in Canada which means Goli owed a lender or a vendor an awful lot of money. Goli launched in 2019 and reportedly exceeded $400M in sales in 2021. PR Newswire
Skincare influencer Hyram Yarbro has acquired Selfless by Hyram from The Inkey List for an undisclosed sum. The brand was developed as a joint venture between Hyram Yarbro and The Inkey List. BeautyMatter

Fundraising

Skin & Out, a Paris-based natural acne care brand, has raised €1.5M in funding from Bertrand & Mathilde Thomas, the co-founders of natural skincare brand Caudalie. Sisters Fleur & Amélie Desazars launched Skin & Out four years ago. The brand sells topical solutions as well as supplements that combat acne. WWD

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Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

In a surprise move, athleisure brand Outdoor Voices closed all of its retail stores on Sunday. The company lists 16 retail locations on its website and plans on being an exclusively online business moving forward. Sounds like this was a surprise to their retail employees which obviously isn’t a good look. NYT
Nicki Minaj officially launched Pink Friday Nails, her new press-on nail brand. The debut collection features 13 different press-on nail designs which are available in various colorways and lengths. The products retail from $19.99 to $39.99. Pink Friday Nails
Naturium, the masstige skincare brand that e.l.f. Beauty acquired for $355M last year, just launched a new body wash duo as the brand prioritizes personal care in addition to skin + body care. Happi
Gap is partnering with streetwear brand Palace on a 90s-inspired apparel collection. The 55-piece collection will debut later this year. A fantastic collab for Gap. Business of Fashion
Michael Kors has debuted its first fragrance collection under its new licensing agreement with Italian fragrance manufacturer EuroItalia. WWD

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

Brown-Forman continues to prioritize RTDs. Their latest RTD cocktail is The Jack & Ginger Ale which is available now across the U.S. Good-looking can. Twitter
Keurig is betting on K-Rounds which are plant-based, fully compostable coffee pods. The sustainable coffee pods along with a new machine are expected to launch in 2025. Green Queen
There’s a newish plant-based energy drink brand from Minnesota called Huxley. The energy drink features caffeine from cascara along with electrolytes and organic cane sugar. I dig the packaging. Instagram
Functional beverage brand Cloud Water just unveiled a drastic brand refresh. I like the updated packaging but IMO it’s missing the warmth of the previous iteration. BevNET
AB InBev and PepsiCo have joined forces to launched a boozy version of 7 Up in Canada. The packaging is mortifying. Just Drinks

Sephora at Kohl’s surpassed $1.4B in sales last year and the two companies plan on opening 100 new locations. BeautyMatter
Premium luggage brand Béis hit $200M in annual sales last year, a year-over-year increase of 180%. Glossy