Crescent Capital Partners, the leading Australian private equity firm, has put Nude by Nature on the block after nearly a decade of 100 per cent ownership.

Leading international consultants, Ankura Consulting, have been tapped as the mandated financial advisor to manage expressions of interest in relation to the proposed sale.

Australian beauty brands have been attracting big money over the past two years. The largest recent acquisition was L’Oréal’s buyout of Aesop from Natura & Co in a deal worth US$2.5 billion. Last year, L’Occitane took a majority stake in Grown Alchemist, the Melbourne-based cosmeceutical, clean beauty player.

Nude by Nature is also a major prize because of its dominant position in the Australian beauty landscape as the nation’s number one mineral makeup brand and number one clean beauty brand. The 100 per cent natural brand is also the fifth biggest selling makeup brand in pharmacies – behind Maybelline New York, Revlon, L’Oréal and Rimmel. Key retail partners include Chemist Warehouse, Priceline, Big W, Target and Myer and more than 1200 independent pharmacies.

Launched in 2008, Nude by Nature’s original range featured award-winning mineral foundations, a bronzer, finishing veil and a makeup brush. All of which are still number one in their category today. The brand also sells one SKU every 27 seconds

But as industry observers and beauty fans know, Nude by Nature has expanded strongly over the years and its extensive portfolio includes nearly every item in the makeup arsenal from lipsticks to palettes, BB creams, mascaras, liquid foundations and much more. There’s nothing hairshirt about Nude by Nature’s packaging, either, from its on-trend rose-gold lipsticks and palettes that are as glamorous as their prestige beauty counterparts to its sleekly clinical skincare packaging.

Nude by Nature has always been revered by beauty lovers for what its formulas don’t contain -parabens, pthalates, silicones, sulphates, bismuth and more. Vegan and cruelty-free, the brand has been a leader in the clean beauty space before the term was widely used. Two years ago, Nude by Nature Skincare also made its debut, featuring 40 pure plant-derived actives including 10 potent Australian botanicals.

Just a few of the milestones in the brand’s 15 year journey which have made it such a sought-after brand here and overseas. The clean beauty market is skyrocketing. According to Research and Markets, the world’s largest market research store,  global sales hit US$7.22 billion in 2022 and are expected to reach US$14.36 billion by 2028 which should also attract savvy buyers.

The consumer perspective aside, prospective buyers of Nude by Nature are being enticed by the brand’s double-digit EBITDA margins, a strong track record of profitable growth, wide distribution and future growth opportunities. There’s also a strong pipeline of product lines in which the brand has full IP ownership ready for launch across colour cosmetics, clean beauty care and a portfolio of SKUs aimed at teens. Nude by Nature’s fast-growing digital and international expansion also includes a proposed return to China and plans to enter the US market in FY2025.

We’ve shown that we can really drive the business post-Covid in Australia and New Zealand, while breaking into new and exciting markets as we have done with great success in Canada (Shoppers Drug Mart) and Europe (including Nocibe, Douglas and Karstadt, said Mark Thompson, CEO of Nude by Nature, who has been in the position since 2014.

“Nude by Nature is a tremendous business that offers speed-to-market based on multiple top-selling products, blue-chip channel partners, and a history of partnering with international retailers. The brand is “cleaner” than its higher-priced competitors, or those who claim to be natural, making Nude by Nature an attractive and scalable proposition, locally and globally.

“No other brand offers the combination of all-natural ingredients, product efficacy and great pricing that Nude by Nature does. Nude by Nature rejects synthetic chemicals that most brands choose to use, even those which are promoted as natural,” he added.

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