French company L’Oréal has officially agreed to acquire Aesop, an Australian luxury personal care brand for more than $2.5 billion USD. The Melbourne-based skin, hair, and body care product line is known for using plant-based ingredients and vegan formulas that are long-lasting. The iconic amber bottles of the brand, as well as its minimalistic branding, give the brand a strong retail presence in the prestigious beauty world. Currently, the brand is present in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. It only opened its first store in China last year.
BEAUTY
Aesop is the epitome of avant-garde beauty, whose products are not only made with great care and exceptional attention to detail; they are a superb combination of urbanity, hedonism and undeniable luxury. Aesop taps into all of today’s ascending currents, and L’Oréal will contribute to unleash its massive growth potential, notably in China and travel retail. – Nicolas Hieronimus, L’Oréal Chief Executive Officer
Aesop is the most recent addition to L’Oréal’s Luxe division, joining Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, Helena Rubinstein, Kiehl’s, and Mugler. Prior to the current L’Oréal transaction, Natura and Aesop signed a definitive agreement in 2012 in which Natura acquired a 65% stake in Aesop for $48 million USD in cash. Aesop’s business has grown rapidly since then, with sales of $537 million USD last year.
Aesop holds a very unique positioning on the global luxury beauty market thanks to its design-led brand essence, its highly efficacious and sensorial products, as well as its customer-obsessed retail philosophy. We look forward to welcoming Aesop’s CEO Michael O’Keeffe and his experienced and passionate teams to continue to grow together the brand’s remarkable potential, by carrying on cultivating its uniqueness and its values,” he continued. We have great confidence that Aesop will join the L’Oréal Luxe Billionaire brands club, and therefore contribute significantly to the growth of the division in the years to come. – Cyril Chapuy, president of L’Oréal Luxe
