P&G Makes Strategic Play for Fast-Growing eCommerce Personal Care Brand
Intrepid announced today that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Zenlen Inc. dba Native, a rapidly-growing direct-to-consumer deodorant brand, on its acquisition by Procter & Gamble (P&G) (NYSE: PG). The acquisition will allow P&G to broaden its existing portfolio of personal care brands, which already includes Secret, Old Spice, and Gillette, and capitalize on the direct-to-consumer and better-for-you positioning of the Native brand. Founder and CEO Moiz Ali will continue to lead Native and the brand direction from its San Francisco headquarters.
“We selected Intrepid to represent us based on their deep expertise in the beauty and personal care industry and understanding of our brand and business model. They exceeded our expectations and delivered an exceptional result and strategic partner in P&G,” said Moiz Ali, Founder and CEO of Native. “I’ve long admired P&G’s commitment to product innovation and obsession with customer happiness. I’m excited to leverage P&G’s expertise and know we can continue to rapidly grow the Native brand.”
“We knew the Native story and brand would generate strong excitement and acquirer interest. Native is a rapidly-growing, direct-to-consumer personal care brand with a focus on product quality and ingredients consumers can understand—all of which hit squarely on many of the core beauty and personal megatrends we see in the market,” said Steve Davis, Managing Director and Head of the Beauty & Personal Care practice at Intrepid. “In just two short years, Moiz and his team have created the leader in the direct-to-consumer deodorant category with phenomenal consumer following and support. We believe the combination of the Native brand and team with the resources and retail expertise of P&G is a terrific match.”
Founded in 2015, Native makes safe, effective, and non-toxic personal care products that consumers use every day. The company has emerged as one of the fastest-growing independent pure-play brands and the leading direct-to-consumer brand in the $3.2 billion U.S. deodorant market. Through its direct-to-consumer business model, dedication to ingredient transparency and focus on product quality, Native has built strong consumer demand and trust with a customer base of more than one million product users since inception. The Native brand has received overwhelmingly positive customer reviews and extensive coverage and acclaim across both consumer and trade media outlets with mentions from news sources such as Time, The New York Times, and BuzzFeed.