Shiseido Launches VC Fund, Ferrero Weighs Acquisition 🍪

Author

CPG WIRE
December 09, 2023

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

  • Hildred Capital buys Hello Bello 👶

  • Sons secures €6.75M 💰

  • Sephora bets on clean fragrance 🫧

  • De La Calle heads to Walmart 🍍

  • Lululemon sales up 18.7% 📈

Shiseido Launches VC Fund 💰

Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido — the owner of Drunk Elephant, Issey Miyake, NARS, and many other beauty brands — launched a new venture fund called LIFT Ventures. 

LIFT VENTURES, which will be led by Shiseido Americas CEO Ron Gee, will invest in novel technologies, innovative platforms, and high-growth brands. Per a press release, their primary focus will be on brands and businesses in the Western hemisphere. Thus far LIFT Ventures has invested in two companies. 

First, LIFT invested in Phyla, a San Francisco-based probiotic skincare brand that combats acne without harsh chemicals or microbiome disruption. The company launched in 2014 and was founded by Dr. Yug Varma and Maria Cho. 

Second, LIFT backed Patricks, a premium men’s grooming brand that’s based in Melbourne, Australia. Patricks, which was founded by husband-and-wife team Patrick & Aimee Kidd, sells a variety of products across haircare, skincare, and personal care. Their packaging is pretty novel — it’s like 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Formula 1. See below. 

It’s unclear how large the fund is or how many investments LIFT will make annually, but Shiseido is keen on becoming a “personal beauty wellness company” by 2030. 

Most of the major cosmetics companies now have venture arms to back early-stage brands or pioneering technology firms: 

  • The Estée Lauder Companies launched New Incubation Ventures (NIV) in 2021. Thus far they’ve backed innovative British fragrance brand Vyrao, Chinese skincare brand Code Mint, and Haeckels, a UK-based natural skincare and wild fragrance brand. 

  • L'Oréal unveiled their strategic venture arm, BOLD, in 2018. While BOLD has invested in beauty brands like DOCUMENTS, a Chinese fragrance firm, and Sparty, a Japanese personalized beauty company, the vast majority of the companies they back are next gen ingredient startups like Microphyt and Debut. 

  • Natura &Co, the Brazilian cosmetics company that recently sold Aesop for $2.5B, launched Fable Investments in 2021. Through Fable Investments, Natura &Co has backed Perfumer H, a London-based fragrance house, as well as sexual wellness brand Maude. 

  • Unilever has Unilever Ventures which has invested in fast-growing brands like Grown Alchemist, Grove Collaborative, Live Tinted, Lemme, Straand, and many, many others. You can view their considerable portfolio here. 

  • Lastly, LVMH has a venture arm dubbed LVMH Luxury Ventures which they’ve used to back Versed, Madhappy, Gabriela Hearst, and Officine Universelle Buly 1803.

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Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Italian confectionery giant Ferrero Group is considering an acquisition of Michel et Augustin, a French sweets & snacks brand that Danone acquired in 2019. Danone, which is best known for its dairy and plant-based milks, no longer sees Michel et Augustin as a strategically significant brand, and Ferrero Group would be a perfect home for it. We don’t have any details on how much the brand is valued, but 2015 sales for Michel et Augustin were around $44M. Reuters

  • Lux Perry, the founder of period care brand Somedays, has acquired period underwear brand Aisle for an undisclosed sum. There has been a ton of M&A in the period underwear category over the past 24 months. Essity acquired Modibodi for $140M and 80% of Knix for $320M, and Kimberley-Clark scooped up Thinx, which did $100M in revenue in 2021, for an undisclosed sum. Access Wire

  • The highest bidder for bankrupt baby care brand Hello Bello is Hildred Capital Management who will acquire the asset for $65M. The plan is for Hildred Capital to combine Hello Bello with Hyland’s Naturals, a purveyor of supplements and OTC medicines that it acquired in 2020. Bloomberg

  • Weetabix, a UK-based cereal business that’s owned by Post Holdings, will acquire local competitor Deeside Cereals for an undisclosed sum. Just Food

Fundraising

  • UK-based men’s hair care brand Sons landed €6.75M in funding as it looks to expand its business in the UK and Ireland, and launch in Germany. The Davy EIIS Fund led the round while a number of private investors also participated. The Industry

  • Indonesian beauty brand Rose All Day secured just over $5.4M in series A funding. The round was led by SWC Global, with additional participation from DSG Consumer Partners and AC Ventures. Deal Street Asia

What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Clean fragrance brand Clean Reserve is preparing to launch its new water-based fragrance line, H2EAU, exclusively at Sephora. H2EAU is formulated for sensitive skin and doesn’t contain ethyl alcohol or phthalates, so Clean Reserve is hoping to reach lapsed fragrance users. Water-based fragrances have been done before but there were often issues with shelf life or efficacy. Tokyo-based Takasago resolved these issues with their Hydro-Tec technology, however. Glossy

  • IKEA has entered the home fitness category with a new collection called DAJLIEN which means “daily” in Swedish. The collection features multipurpose products that can function as workout equipment or decor. IKEA

  • Skincare brand Glow Recipe launched a stunning new toner called Cloudberry Bright Essence Toner. The new product is available via Sephora for $38. WWD

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • London-based non-alcoholic brewer Lucky Saint launched a new hazy IPA. Good-looking can. FoodBev

  • Supplements brand Dymatize has partnered with Dunkin Donuts to launch a new Glazed Donut Protein Powder. PR Newswire 

  • Australian design agency Denomination designed a beautiful bottle for Paddington Lane, a new rosé brand from Australia 🔽 Instagram

  • Chicago-based Nature’s Fynd launched a new fungi-based yogurt line that features 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and live active cultures. The new line will make its nationwide debut at Whole Foods Market in January. Vegconomist

Data 🖥️

  • Lululemon’s Q3 sales jumped 18.7% to $2.2B while net income decreased ever so slightly to $249M. Shares in the activewear brand took a hit after it gave a tepid outlook for Q4, however. CNBC

Distribution News 🚚

  • De La Calle Tepache is now available nationwide at Walmart.

  • Happy Wolf, a purveyor of refrigerated nutrition bars for kids, launched at Gelsons.

  • Functional baked goods brand Sweet rolled out at Circle K in Canada.

  • MANSCAPED launched at Tesco in the UK.