INDUSTRY BLOG
Acquisition Furthers Henkel’s No. 3 Position in the U.S. Professional Hair Care Market
Henkel announced an agreement to acquire Nattura Laboratorios and its two primary professional hair care brands, Pravana and Tec Italy. The acquisition furthers Henkel’s No. 3 position in the U.S. professional hair care market, advances Henkel to the leading position in the Mexican professional hair care market, and provides a platform for further growth in the Latin American markets.
After several years of silence in the professional salon M&A arena, this deal marks the second strategic acquisition in the past six months following the Conair acquisition of Aquage in September 2015.
Founded in 1982 with headquarters in Guadalajara, Mexico, Nattura comprises 11 professional hair care brands that have generated more than $110 million in revenue in 2016. The Pravana brand consists primarily of hair color while Tec Italy is focused on hair care and styling products. The acquired brands complement Henkel’s existing professional hair care portfolio, including Schwarzkopf, Syoss, Kenra, Alterna and Sexy Hair (the latter three Henkel acquired in 2014).
Industry Experiences Uptick in Earlier Stage Investments— Function of Beauty Closes $9.5 Million Series A Funding
While large strategic beauty care acquirers, such as Henkel, remain at the forefront of the beauty and personal care M&A game, the industry has also experienced a recent uptick in earlier stage investments. Function of Beauty, a manufacturer of personalized shampoo and conditioner based on consumer hair goals, closed a $9.5 million Series A funding round led by GGV Capital. Launched in 2015, Function of Beauty issues a ‘quiz’ to learn about users’ hair types and preferences, which are then computed into an algorithm to determine the ingredients and specific formulation for each individual user. To date, Function of Beauty has raised $12 million in funding, and plans to use the funds to further refine its algorithm, expand internationally, and open a flagship store in New York to grow brand awareness.
As financial investors become increasingly eager to deploy capital in the sector, strategic acquirers remain aggressive for larger brands and technology continues to impact the beauty care world, we expect to see a growing number of early-stage investments from both private equity and venture capital firms.