L’Oréal sells Decléor and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc, turns focus to Indian beauty market

L’Oréal is offloading Decléor and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to the French group Cospal. The two names are lesser-known among L’Oréal’s wider cosmetics portfolio, but Cospal hopes to revitalize them.

Matthieu Lesieur established Cospal earlier this year to expand into the beauty and wellness market by building and developing a portfolio of brands in the sector. 

“With this double acquisition, the Cospal group has reached a major milestone in its growth strategy, affirming its intention to become a key player in the beauty sector. Rejuvenating two iconic brands like Decléor and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc is a unique opportunity to preserve their heritage while breathing into them a new, innovation-driven impetus,” Lesieur told Fashion Network.

The purchase was made for an undisclosed sum.

Loosing and buying brands

Lesieur has family links to Decléor since his father acquired the brand in the late 1980s before selling it to Shiseido. The brand was acquired by L’Oréal from Shiseido in 2014.

The purchase follows L’Oréal announcing it had stopped the commercialization of Decléor in October 2023.

At the time, L’Oréal said: “L’Oréal has a portfolio of complementary brands. The group’s strategy is to acquire and, sometimes, exit brands, to keep a very strong portfolio and the complementarity it needs to thrive over the long term.”

“The success of L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty is based on a strL’Oréal says it is focusing on brands prescribed by health care professionals and the Indian beauty market.ategy and a business model focused on brands prescribed by health care professionals. Under these conditions, the division has decided to stop the commercialization of Decléor.”

The spa brand was founded in 1974 and is known for blending essential oils and aromatherapy into skin care products. Lesieur said Decléor needs to be reinvented from scratch.

“We must redefine the product range, tell the market that the brand is back and restructure its distribution. We will capitalize on the investments made by the previous owners and on the synergy between the spa center and the Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc skin care brand,” he added.

Cospal bought Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc’s spa and skin care license. The French Alps inspire the skin care brand, and its European spa center hosts over 100,000 visitors a year.

Focus on SAPMENA market

L’Oréal held its Capital Markets Day earlier this month, inviting analysts and investors to Singapore and India to explore the beauty market perspectives and Group strategy for the SAPMENA (South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa) region.

The group’s regional management teams shared insights on the opportunities for L’Oréal to develop its leadership in a region growing faster than the global average.

According to L’Oréal, 170 million people are set to join the middle class in India by 2030, which demonstrates a strong market opportunity for brands to grab the attention of these consumers. The beauty giant is working on capitalizing on its strengths to “seize the significant opportunities in the dynamic Indian subcontinent.”

The beauty company says the market is dominated by mass consumption. “Global brands have already helped modernize traditional off and online retail, including the transformation of the hairstyling salon industry over the past 30 years,” says L’Oréal.