www.bwconfidential.com The inside view on the international beauty industry February 5-18, 2015 #106 CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL Comment Inside The buzz 2 Changing hands News roundup here’s been a strong M&A flavor to the beginning of 2015. TTwo weeks ago, Spanish group Puig announced that it would Netwatch 6 acquire L’Artisan Parfumeur and Penhaligon’s, two brands in the Social media monitor niche fragrance category—a segment that is increasingly catching the eye of large multinationals (at the end of last year, Estée Lauder Interview 7 Companies also bought two niche fragrance players: Editions de Nuxe Groupe international director Parfums Frédéric Malle and Le Labo). Meanwhile, in the make-up Julien Coutas sector, which is also proving to be fertile ground for M&A, US- based Markwins revealed that it would buy teen color brands Insight 9 Bonne Bell and Lip Smacker. Peru’s prestige market And some other big deals could be just around the corner. In travel retail, the Benetton family is looking to sell its stake in operator World Duty Free Group to investors. A string Store visit 12 of bidders are said to be lining up to buy the stake in the retailer, from Swiss group Dufry, Watsons, Taipei Lagardère (owner of LS Travel Retail and Aelia) and Korean group Lotte, to private-equity company KKR. Another big deal that could soon come off is the acquisition of Avon. It has emerged that private-equity player TPG Capital is in talks to buy the direct seller. This would see Avon delisted from the stock market, a move that would perhaps give the struggling company the space to sort out some of its problems. In light of the deteriorating economic environment in many markets, analysts may be cautious about the outlook for beauty in 2015. However, current M&A activity shows that the beauty sector is still attractive and that companies are ready to spend to ensure future growth. Meet the BW Confidential team at: l China Connect, Paris, March 5-6, Oonagh Phillips l Cosmopack, Bologna, March 19-22 Editor in Chief l Cosmoprof Worldwide, Bologna, March 20-23 [email protected] l Duty Free Show of the Americas, Orlando, March 22-25 l Esxence, Milan, March 26-29 l in-cosmetics, Barcelona, April 14-16 l Luxe Pack Shanghai, April 15-16 l MakeUp in Seoul, April 15-16 News roundup At a glance... n Speculation mounts over who will buy stake in World Duty Free n Puig acquires Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur The buzz n Avon said to be in take-over talks with TPG Capital n Markwins buys Bonne Bell and Lip Smacker brands n Macy’s acquires Bluemercury Stay informed with our daily news headlines on www.bwconfidential.com Strategy Speculation is mounting over who will buy the stake in travel retailer World Duty Free, currently held by the Benetton family. It has emerged that travel-retail operator Dufry is considering a bid for the company and that French group Lagardère (owner of LS Travel Retail and Aelia) is also looking at purchasing the stake. Reports say that Lagardère is in talks with several investment funds to finance an operation of more than $1.2bn. These reports come after news that private-equity company KKR was interested in buying the stake in World Duty Free. Other interested parties are said to include Korean group Lotte. Spain-based Puig has acquired fragrance brands Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur from Fox Paine & Company. Puig says that the deal firmly positions the company in the exclusive, high-end perfume market. Penhaligon’s has its own retail network and a global presence. L’Artisan Parfumeur operates boutiques in France and is also sold internationally. The current team, led by Lance Patterson, will continue to run both brands. Avon is said to be in take-over talks with private-equity company TPG Capital. A buyout by TPG would see Avon go private, which would enable the struggling direct seller to turn the company around. TPG purchased Avon’s Japanese business in 2010. US-based Markwins International is to acquire teen mass make-up brands Bonne Bell and Lip Smacker from Aspire Brands. This is Markwins’ third major acquisition in 12 years, following the purchase of AM Cosmetics in 2003 and Physicians Formula in 2012. The company also markets the wet n wild and Black Radiance brands. French brand Atelier Cologne has raised €5m in a move to boost its retail sales from €20m today to €100m. Some €2.5m of the investment comes from management fund Extendam, while €1.5m comes from private investors. The remaining €1m will be finalized at the end of June this year. Atelier Cologne is sold in 300 doors in 25 countries. At his New Year’s address to the press, L’Oréal ceo Jean Paul Agon said the group was beginning 2015 “with confidence, energy and ambition”, despite a volatile and uncertain economic context. Basing his comments on nine-month figures, Agon said that L’Oréal outperformed the market in 2014, albeit more moderately than in previous years. n n n www.bwconfidential.com - February 5-18, 2015 #106 - Page 2 CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL News roundup n n n He added that the group’s performance showed sharp contrast by region and division and singled out the Luxe and Active Cosmetics businesses as having performed particularly well. In terms of markets, Agon highlighted that the group had seen good growth in Europe and that there had been a revival in southern Europe, which had suffered for four years. The buzz Last year was also described as being important in terms of acquisitions. “Three acquisitions that we made are very strategic for L’Oréal: Magic Holdings, which is the number-one in masks in China and will reinforce our position in this market; NYX, which is a real digital brand from start to finish and we will learn a lot from this brand and make it global, and Niely Cosmeticos, which is a leader in haircare in Brazil,” noted Agon. Brazil’s government has announced a major tax increase on the fuel, cosmetics and imported goods industries, a move that is set to make doing business in the already heavily taxed country a lot more difficult. For the cosmetics industry, the government will introduce what it calls a Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI). This tax is already applied to manufacturers, and with the new law it will also apply to distributors and retailers. The move is intended to raise R$20.6bn (US$7.7bn) and help consumers regain confidence in the economy. The tax increase is set to go into effect in May. Results French group LVMH said that sales and net profit reached record levels in 2014. The group reported a 6% increase in sales to €30.6bn last year, while organic growth was 5%. Net profit rose 64% to €5.65bn. However, profit from recurring operations declined 5% to €5.72bn. The perfumes and cosmetics division saw a 5% increase in sales (+7% on an organic basis) to €3.92bn, while profits were flat at €415m. The selective retailing business saw sales rise 7% (+8% on an organic basis) to €9.53bn, while profit fell 3% to €882m. The group said Sephora gained market share. However, travel retailer DFS was impacted by currency and geopolitical events. Sales at Japanese group Shiseido for the first nine months of fiscal 2015 rose by 3.8% to ¥555.8bn ($4.72bn). Operating income fell 43.6% to ¥18.8bn ($159.8m), attributed to increased marketing investment in international markets, higher bonus payments in Japan and a rise in costs due to problems at its US distribution center. In light of the sale of Decléor and Carita to L’Oréal, net income rose 66.1% to ¥27.8bn ($236.4m). Fourth-quarter sales at French group Interparfums reached €75m in 2014, an increase of 30% over the same period in 2013. The Jimmy Choo, Lanvin and Montblanc brands reported the best performance in the quarter, which compensated for the slowdown at the Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron and Repetto brands. For 2014, Interparfums registered like-for-like sales growth of 19% to €297m. The group is forecasting an operating profit of 10.5% for the year. Fragrance house Givaudan reported sales of CHF2.11bn ($2.29bn) in 2014 for its fragrance business, a like-for-like increase of 3.6% over the previous year. Sales in the fine fragrance division grew 2.5% like-for-like. Total group sales reached CHF4.40bn ($4.79bn), up 3.7% like-for-like on 2013. n n n www.bwconfidential.com - February 5-18, 2015 #106 - Page 3 CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL News roundup n n n Retail Department-store operator Macy’s is buying beauty retailer Bluemercury for $210m. Bluemercury operates 60 boutiques, most of which include a spa, in 18 states. “Our plan is to operate and significantly expand Bluemercury stores as a standalone business with The buzz an enhanced omnichannel component (…) across stores, online and mobile. We also plan to add selected Bluemercury products and boutiques to Macy’s stores nationwide,” explained Macy’s chairman and ceo Terry J. Lundgren in a statement. Bluemercury will continue to be managed by founders Marla and Barry Beck. Travel retailer Dufry exercised its option to buy 20% of Dufry Lojas Francas (DLF) for CHF148m ($162.2m) from its minority partner Brasif Group. This will mean Dufry will hold 80% of DLF. DLF is Dufry’s operating entity for new duty-free businesses in Brazil.