L’Oréal, French beauty giant, has bought Aesop, an Australian brand, with acquisition value of $2.5 billion. This makes the biggest brand acquisition ever made. Aesop’s parent company, Natura & Co, a Brazilian firm, announced the sale. Nature & Co also owns both The Body Shop and Avon. From this acquisition, Aesop would be the same as other brands like Garnier and Maybelline. The brand itself was famous for its luxury skin and body care products. On the record, for L’Oréal, this deal would be the largest acquisition of another brand. Based on the data from Dealogic, the company also purchased YSL Beauté in 2008 for as much as $1.75 billion.
Natura &Co alone is the largest beauty and cosmetics company. It operates in more than 100 countries. In a statement, Fabio Barbosa, the CEO, argued that the acquisition of Aesop helps reduce debt and hone other growing paths. He added that the firm has strengthened financial structure as well as deleveraged the balance sheet, Thus, Natura & Co would be able to sharpen its focus as well as strategic priorities. Aesop’s sales have surged 20 times from $28 million in 2012 to $537 million in 2022. In the past year, Aesop has doubled growth in revenue.
The company sells many products. The epitomes are exfoliating hand wash, scented body lotions as well as incense kits. The brand hopes to tap mainland China because they opened stores there last year. L’Oréal CEO, Nicholas Hieronimus said that Aesop entered into today’s ascending currents. Thus L’Oréal will use it to get a massive growth potential.
