Puig Buys Dr. Barbara Sturm, Voyage Lands $22M 🚀

Author

CPG WIRE
January 13, 2024

GM and Happy Saturday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering today:

  • Wolverine sells Sperry 👞

  • DDC continues acquisition spree 🍜

  • Alani Nu x EmRata ⚡️

  • TRUFF drops new product 🔥

  • Better Sour heads to Sprouts 📈

Shout-out to Barrel, the go-to web agency for brands like KIND Snacks, Dr. Jart+, Once Upon a Farm, and many others.

Puig Buys Dr. Barbara Sturm 💰

Spanish beauty & fashion firm Puig has acquired Dr. Barbara Sturm, a premium skincare brand, for an undisclosed sum. 

Founded in Germany in 2014, Dr. Barbara Sturm quickly became a favorite among celebrities like Bella Hadid, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Victoria Beckham. 

In addition to retailing at Blue Mercury, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Sephora, Dr. Barbara Sturm also operates boutiques in key markets like Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. These boutiques also double as clinics where Dr. Barbara Sturm offers spa and skincare services to clients.

In 2023, Dr. Barbara Sturm reportedly reached $150M in net sales.

Puig has been busy building its portfolio of next gen beauty brands. In 2020, Puig acquired a majority stake in makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury for £1.3B. Then, in 2022, Puig purchased buzzy fragrance brand Byredo for $1B. 

These bold acquisitions appear to be paying off for Puig. We don’t have financials for Byredo — anecdotally it seems to be thriving — but revenue at Charlotte Tilbury increased 38% year-over-year to over £310M in 2022.

With its acquisition of Dr. Barbara Sturm, Puig now owns fast-growing brands of scale in critical categories like fragrance, skincare, and makeup.

What’s next for Puig? Perhaps an IPO that could value the company between $8B and $10B.

More on the transaction here.

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Since 2006, we’ve helped build digital experiences for well-known brands like KIND Snacks, Dr.Jart+, Once Upon a Farm, SmartyPants Vitamins, The Outset, and many others. We’re also Shopify Plus Partners.

Check out our Chief Experience Officer, Lucas Ballasy, talk about how CPG brands can up their web presence on the 3Squares Podcast.

If you’re interested in taking your web experience to the next level, contact us here. We’d love to hear from you.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Wolverine Worldwide is selling footwear brand Sperry for around $130M. The buyer is Authentic Brands Group (ABG). Wolverine has been divesting brands like Keds and Sperry in order to focus on athletic and outdoor brands like Merrell and Saucony. Axios 

  • DayDayCook (DDC), a Hong Kong-based content-driven food company, acquired a 51% stake in G.L. Industry S.p.A, an Italian manufacturer of Asian ready-to-heat meals. DDC has been on an acquisition spree lately. In December they acquired Denver-based Yai’s Thai, and earlier in 2023 they purchased Nona Lim. Just Food

Fundraising

  • Voyage Foods, an Oakland-based startup that produces sustainable alternatives to coffee and nut spreads, secured $22M in additional funding. Investors include Valor Equity Partners, Horizon Ventures, Level One Fund, and others. NOSH 

  • Varlo Sports, a producer of high-performance triathlon apparel, raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from REI Path Ahead Ventures, Todd Leff, and John Cassimatis. This is REI’s second investment of 2024 — last week they backed Renegade Running, an Oakland-based running retailer. PR Newswire

  • Singer Harry Styles has invested in S.S. Daley, a British fashion label that was founded by Steven Stokey-Daley in 2020. S.S. Daley retails at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. Business of Fashion

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Novak Djokovic launched a new performance nutrition brand called SILA and their debut product is Electrolyte Drink Cubes. Even though Djokovic owns the intellectual property, this is a partnership with Waterdrop, the fast-growing hydration brand that Djokovic backed in 2023. SILA

  • Latina-owned body care brand NOPALERA launched a new collection of candles. Three scents are available: Todos Santos, Tepoztlán, and Merida. Love the packaging. Twitter

  • Rare Beauty, the fast-growing cosmetics brand founded by Selena Gomez, is opening a pop-up in London’s Covent Garden to celebrate the launch of its body care line. The Industry

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • Alani Nu is launching a new flavor alongside supermodel Emily Ratajkowski. The new flavor, Cherry Twist, drops on January 15th. The accompanying campaign is terrific, too. Instagram

  • Spanish wine & spirits firm Zamora is partnering with Dak Prescott to launch Volteo, an ultra-premium tequila brand that will debut later this year. Zamora has deep ties to Texas — they’ve owned Houston-based Yellow Rose Distilling since 2017. The Spirits Business

  • Suja Organic, the popular cold-pressed juice brand, just launched a new line of ready-to-drink protein beverages. Three flavors are available: Chocolate, Coffee Bean, Vanilla Cinnamon. Business Wire

  • TRUFF revealed its first new product of 2024 — Jalapeño Lime Hot Sauce. The product is available online and will launch exclusively at Whole Foods Market later this month. PR Newswire

  • Cometeer revealed a new look for its retail products as it expands into 70+ Costco stores across the southeast U.S. ⬇️ Instagram

Data 🖥️

  • Bumbu Rum, the rum brand owned by Sovereign Brands, is now the #1 super-premium rum in on-premise sales in the UK. The Spirits Business

Distribution News 🚚

  • Better Sour is now available at Sprouts, The Fresh Market, and World Market.

  • As mentioned above, Cometeer launched at 70+ Costco stores in the southeast.

  • Meati Foods launched at select Target stores.