Weekly Roundup: Estée Lauder acquires Tom Ford, Oddity’s US$76M Revela acquisition uncovers beauty molecules using AI

05 May 2023 --- The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) completed its acquisition of the Tom Ford brand and is now its sole owner of all its intellectual property. With its emergence from bankruptcy, Revlon announced it has formed a new board of directors for the reorganized company. Meanwhile, Oddity invested US$100 million to bring the pharmaceutical sector’s AI-based drug molecule discovery technology into beauty and wellness.

Business highlights
ELC completed its acquisition of the Tom Ford brand. The deal values the total enterprise at US$2.8 billion. At closing, ELC paid approximately US$2.25 billion. This amount was funded by cash on hand and proceeds from the issuance of commercial paper, as well as US$250 million received from ELC’s licensing partner Marcolin. An additional aggregate amount of US$300 million in deferred payments from ELC to the sellers will be due in the beginning of July 2025. The remainder of the total enterprise valuation is reflected in the acquisition of Tom Ford Fashion by Zegna Group, which is a licensing partner of ELC.

Oddity’s Dr. David Zhang, Shiran Holtzman Erel, Oran Holtzman and Dr. Evan Zhao (Image credit: Oddity).In connection with its emergence from bankruptcy, Revlon announced it has formed a new Board of Directors for the reorganized company, which includes senior executives with experience in global consumer, retail and beauty industries. Effective upon emergence from Chapter 11, which is expected to occur in the coming days, the new members of reorganized Revlon’s Board will include former executives of Bloomin’ Brands, Avon Products, Sephora, Starbucks, Nike, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Kraft Foods Group, Gap, eBay and Walt Disney Parks. Revlon’s president and CEO, Debra Perelman, will continue in her role and remain on the Board of reorganized Revlon, which will be a private non-SEC reporting company.

Revlon also completed its financial restructuring process. The newly reorganized company is called Revlon Group Holdings LLC. With liquidity of approximately US$236 million, funded by a rights offering, a new senior secured credit facility and new asset-based loans, Revlon emerged from Chapter 11 as a private company. The company has simplified its capital structure by removing more than US$2.7 billion of debt from its balance sheet, leaving approximately US$1.5 billion in debt outstanding. The majority of the company’s reorganized equity is now held by its former lenders, including subsidiaries of Glendon Capital Management, King Street Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co, Antara Capital, Nut Tree Capital Management, Oak Hill Advisors and Cyrus Capital Partners.

Oddity, a US consumer technology platform built to “transform” the global beauty and wellness market, announced its US$76M acquisition of Boston-based Revela, a biotechnology start-up and forerunner in an artificial intelligence (AI) molecule discovery for beauty and wellness indications. With the acquisition, the company will establish Oddity Labs in Boston with an additional US$25 million investment for its frontier lab. The business combination will boost the development and expansion of proprietary, science-backed and clinically tested products. Revela already has patent-pending molecule ingredients proven to have “significant stepwise improvements in efficacy for skin and hair based on clinical testing.” It holds hundreds of molecules in its development pipeline today, spanning a wide range of beauty and wellness applications.

Brenntag expanded an existing distribution agreement with Kao Chemicals Europe to now cover all countries in the Nordics. Brenntag and Kao have a long-standing partnership in Sweden and Norway, and will now serve personal care and household, industrial and institutional cleaning customers in the entire region with a portfolio of surfactant solutions. Kao Chemicals Europe’s portfolio of products includes a wide range of cosmetic ingredients for hair and skin care. The product offering consists of mild surfactants, conditioning agents, rheology modifiers, foam boosters, pearling agents, emulsifiers, emollients and other ingredients that help formulators to develop new solutions and design new formulations, according to market trends.

HHenry Rose, a genderless fine fragrance brand founded by Michelle Pfeiffer, announced a Series A investment led by Sandbridge Capital (Image credit: Henry Rose).enry Rose, a genderless fine fragrance brand founded by Michelle Pfeiffer, announced a Series A investment led by Sandbridge Capital. The partnership marks the brand’s first external investment since its launch in 2019. Henry Rose promotes transparency in fine fragrance by disclosing 100% of its ingredients. It is the first and only fine fragrance to receive both distinctions of Environmental Working Group and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Since launching with five fine fragrances via a direct-to-consumer model, Henry Rose has now grown to include 11 fine fragrances and multiple product categories, including home and body. The brand has expanded into retail distribution with luxury beauty retailers including Credo, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Coty renewed its license agreement with Davidoff, extending its long-running partnership beyond twenty years. The renewal of this license paves the way to update the brand’s top selling fragrance, Davidoff Cool Water, as well as the creation of new innovations. The brand strategy will include a premiumized offer and “echo the growth of Davidoff’s portfolio of projects.” The extended partnership provides a strong foundation for further geographic expansion, claims Coty.

R&D pipeline
Aptar Beauty collaborated with Guerlain to develop a high performance, luxury pump for its new Terracotta Le Teint foundation. The Evolux treatment pump was extensively tested with Guerlain’s advanced formula with Aptar’s Applied Science Department to ensure optimal formula compatibility and dispensing. The pump also features in Guerlain’s Parure Gold rejuvenating foundation, launched at the end of 2022. The Evolux Alpha cartridge is POM-free and has a metal-free pathway. It is marketed as the only cartridge on the market adapted to the specific features of next-generation formulations like Terracotta Le Teint. Made in France at Aptar’s Le Neubourg plant, the metal dispensing system is anodized in gold, precisely matched with Guerlain’s signature color, with the brand’s initials “GG” engraved on the top of the actuator.

Miscellaneous
Estée Lauder announced Dutch supermodel Imaan Hammam, as its newest Global Brand Ambassador. Imaan joins the current roster of Estée Lauder global talent including Adut Akech, Ana de Armas, Amanda Gorman, Bianca Brandolini D’Adda, Carolyn Murphy, Grace Elizabeth, Karlie Kloss, Kōki and Yang Mi. Imaan’s first campaign debuts in July 2023.

IFF joined the membership of Fragrance Creators Association, the trade association representing the fragrance industry in North America. It joins more than 60 other member companies, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations that represent the majority of fragrance manufacturing in North America – from supplying ingredients, to creating and manufacturing fragrances, to marketing finished products. Fragrance Creators members are collaborating to advance responsible stewardship of the fragrance industry at-large.

By Benjamin Ferrer