P&G Sells Vidal Sassoon China, Bansk Group Bets on Jerky 🤑

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re getting into this morning:

• Alter Eco trades hands (again) 🍫

• Bain takes over Accolade Wines 🍷

• Perelel scores funding 💊

• Lulu doubles down on shoes 👟

• Ghia collabs with Awan 🍦

Shout-out to Barrel, the go-to web agency for brands like KIND Snacks, Dr.Jart+, Sweet Loren’s, Austin Eastciders, The Nue Co., and many others.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

• P&G is selling its Vidal Sassoon China business to German conglomerate Henkel for an undisclosed sum. Last year the haircare brand generated upwards of $215M in revenue in Greater China. P&G valued the business around $1B. BeautyMatter

• Consumer-focused investment firm Bansk Group is acquiring a majority stake in No Man’s Land, an Oklahoma-based manufacturer of premium meat snacks. While Bansk Group has typically focused on buying beauty & personal care brands — they own amika, EVA NYC, and Ethique — lately they’ve been acquiring more food & beverage brands. PR Newswire

• Alter Eco has traded hands once again. The organic, fair trade certified chocolate brand is being acquired by Texas-based private equity firm Trek One Capital. Alter Eco was originally acquired by another private equity firm, NextWorld Evergreen, in late 2017. NOSH 

• Organic period care brand Lola is being acquired by Forum Brands, a brand aggregator that owns a variety of brands in the apparel, homewares, and pet care categories. Business of Fashion

• An investor group led by Bain Capital is acquiring Australia’s second largest wine producer, Accolade Wines. Carlyle acquired Accolade Wines in 2018 for around $660M but the firm has struggled to service its debt due to Chinese tariffs and consumers opting for pricier wines. Bain Capital saves the day. Financial Times

Fundraising

• Perelel Health, a maternal wellness brand that’s best known for its prenatal and postnatal vitamins, secured $6M in Series A funding from the likes of Unilever Ventures, Willow Growth Partners, and Selva Ventures. Perelel was co-founded by Alex Taylor, Victoria Thain Gioia, and Dr. Banafsheh Bayati in 2020. Glossy

• Planet A Foods, a German startup that uses fermentation to produce a sustainable chocolate alternative, raised $15.4M in Series A funding. The round was led by World Fund with additional participation from Cherry Ventures, Nucleus Capital, and others. TechCrunch 

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

• Athleisure giant Lululemon is expanding into men’s footwear for the first time ever. Lululemon’s casual sneaker, dubbed cityverse, will launch on February 13th, while their two running shoe models will launch on March 19th and May 7th, respectively. People are dunking on the shoes but I think they look great ⬇️ Twitter

• Personalized skincare brand Curology is expanding into the haircare category with its latest product — Hair Formula RX. PR Newswire

• Fragrance brand Diptyque opened a stunning new store in Shanghai. The red brickwork is a really nice touch. Instagram

• Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand Rhode has named Nick Vlahos as its new CEO. Most recently Vlahos served as CEO of The Honest Company. Business of Fashion

• British streetwear brand Palace is opening a two-story flagship store in Seoul. They now have stores in London, Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. Hypebeast

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

• Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP) is doubling down on iconic Italian coffee brand Lavazza. The beverage giant announced that it will now handle sales & distribution for Lavazza K Cups and will introduce Kicking Horse Coffee K Cups to the market. Food Dive

• Non-alc aperitif brand Ghia has partnered with LA-based dessert shop Awan on a very limited edition ice cream. It’s a beauty ⬇️ Instagram

• Plant-based beverage brand REBBL introduced a new flavor — Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana. Love their packaging. Instagram

• Remedy Drinks, the Australian better-for-you beverage brand that’s backed by L Catterton, refreshed their energy drink line. Massive improvement IMO. Twitter

• Treasury Wine Estates is expanding popular wine label 19 Crimes into spirits with the launch of 19 Crimes Spiced Rum. Curious how this plays out — 19 Crimes is a tremendously popular wine brand but not sure if that success will transfer to spirits. Rum Raiders

• Pernod Ricard and Coca-Cola launched their Absolut & Sprite RTD collab in Great Britain. They knocked the packaging out of the park. The Spirits Business

Distribution News 🚚

• Muddy Bites is now available at Harris Teeter.

• ZOA Energy launched its line of pre-workout supplements exclusively at GNC.

• Marco, an ice cream brand that celebrates global flavors, launched at Albertsons.

• Balanced Tiger, a maker of functional mushroom protein bars, is now available at Sprouts Farmers Market.

• Soom launched their Snack Bites line on Thrive Market.