LG H&H sells beverages brand to strengthen K-beauty footprint

LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) is sharpening its focus on K-beauty, with the sale of its beverage subsidiary Haitai for more than KRW300 billion (US$2 million). The divestment is said to reflect a broader strategy to streamline its non-core operations and redirect capital toward the company’s core personal care and cosmetics business.

Haitai, known for products such as Galamandeun Bae, Podo Bongbong, and Coco Palm, generated revenue of KRW374.1 billion (US$288 million) last year but posted an operating loss of KRW10.1 billion (US$7.8 million). 

The company is reportedly targeting financial investors with F&B experience, emphasizing a timely close over maximum price amid a competitive market. 

According to reports, proceeds from the sale are expected to fund future beauty-sector investments and acquisitions, strengthening LG H&H’s position against K-beauty competitors such as APR and Goodai Global.

Regaining beauty momentum

The move comes as LG H&H seeks to regain momentum in a beauty market where its revenue has halved over five years. The market expects LG H&H to focus on strengthening its beauty competitiveness through two approaches, which are organic brand growth and mergers and acquisitions. 

CEO Lee Sun-joo, who took office in October 2025, has already turned the beauty unit profitable in Q1 2026, with KRW771.1 billion (US$593 million) in revenue and KRW38.6 billion (US$29.7 million) in operating profit. 

The beauty business, which had been in a slump, has been improving since Lee took office. Lee is a cosmetics marketing expert who boosted sales of the US brand Kiehl’s at L’Oreal Korea before leading the US expansion of mask pack brand Mediheal.

While LG H&H recently paused its potential acquisition of skin care brand Torriden due to valuation concerns, the sale of Haitai clears a path for further mergers and acquisitions and organic growth initiatives. The move is said to position LG H&H to compete in the global K-beauty arena.

In another example of a company redirecting its operations toward core personal care and cosmetics business units, Unilever is set to become a pure-play home and personal care business following the divestment of its Foods business to McCormick. Post-completion, Unilever will only operate across Beauty, Wellbeing, Personal Care, and Home Care. 

South Korea overtakes the US

The sale reflects LG H&H’s efforts to focus on beauty, improve capital allocation, and secure additional funds for brand growth and M&A as competition intensifies in the global K-beauty market.

South Korea’s cosmetics exports reached a record US$11.4 billion in 2025, surpassing the US to become the world’s second-largest cosmetics exporter behind France.

The figures highlight the continued global expansion of K-beauty, driven by growing international demand for Korean skin care, stronger diversification beyond China, and the increasing competitiveness of Korea’s manufacturing and export ecosystem.

According to Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) , the country’s cosmetics exports rose 11.8% year-on-year, while the sector’s trade surplus exceeded US$10 billion for the first time. The US became Korea’s largest export market with sales rising 15% to US$2.2 billion, overtaking China, where exports declined 19% to US$2 billion. 

K-beauty’s export markets expanded from 172 to 202 countries, with strong growth recorded in Poland and the UAE. Skin care has remained the dominant export category, accounting for 74.7% of total cosmetics exports, followed by color cosmetics at 13.2%. 

In January, Personal Care Insights reported that South Korea’s cosmetics exports reached a record high of US$11.43 billion in 2025, surpassing the previous year’s US$10 billion. The MFDS says the figure represents a 12.3% increase from 2024. 

According to the MFDS, every respective month in 2025 set a year-over-year record high for export values. In particular, exports in September reached US$1.15 billion, up 26%.