Coty is acquiring a 60% stake in social selling beauty brand Younique for about $600 million in cash (2016 net revenue: ~$400 million). Younique's founders will retain the remaining 40% of the company, which will be run as a separate business within Coty's Consumer Beauty division and be headed by founder and CEO Derek Maxfield and chief visionary officer Melanie Huscroft.
Coty hopes to leverage its R&D and innovation and Younique's direct-to-consumer model to further expand the brand's SKU range and geographic reach.
Younique was founded in 2012 and sells makeup and skin care products through its "disruptive peer-to-peer e-commerce platform," which "is built for mobile-first."
“We are thrilled to have Coty as a partner and expect that together we will be able to take Younique to new height."
The company has 200,000 active presenters and more than 4.1 million consumers in 10 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, France, Spain and Hong Kong.
"Derek and Melanie are tremendous entrepreneurs who have built one of the most engaging and fastest growing e-commerce companies in beauty," said Camillo Pane, Coty’s CEO. "Alongside the rest of Younique’s team and in partnership with their presenters, they have been able to impact the lives of millions of consumers across a number of countries with a mission to uplift and empower women. We look forward to working with them to continue supporting this mission and building Younique into a leading global e-commerce beauty company"
"We are thrilled to have Coty as a partner and expect that together we will be able to take Younique to new heights," said Maxfield. "Coty and Younique share a passion for beauty, an entrepreneurial spirit, as well as complementary missions. I am very excited about this partnership and everything it can bring to Younique’s employees, presenters and loyal consumers across the world."
