Coty to Buy Younique, Valuing Cosmetics Startup at $1 Billion
January 10 2017 - 11:41AM
Dow Jones News
By Khadeeja Safdar and Sharon Terlep
The next Avon lady could be in your Instagram feed.
Younique LLC, a social-media-driven cosmetics company that sells
products through about 200,000 "presenters," on Tuesday agreed to
be acquired by Coty Inc. in a transaction that values the
four-year-old startup at $1 billion.
Coty, based in New York, said it plans to buy 60% of Younique
for $600 million in cash. Younique's founders, siblings Derek
Maxfield and Melanie Huscroft, will own the remaining 40% and stay
with the company as its chief executive and chief visionary
officer, respectively.
Coty is the latest consumer products maker to scoop up an online
upstart allowing it to sell products directly to customers and
sidestep department stores and specialty retailers such as Sephora
and Ulta. Last year, Unilever paid $1 billion to acquire online
razor seller Dollar Shave Club.
Coty in 2015 bought parts of Procter & Gamble Co.'s beauty
business , including CoverGirl makeup and Clairol hair dye, for
about $13 billion, an effort to grow its footprint in the
sector.
The Younique acquisition is expected to close at the end of
Coty's fiscal third quarter.
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com and Sharon
Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 10, 2017 11:26 ET (16:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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