Beautycounter, the US clean beauty brand, debuted in 2013 with a mission to lead the way in ingredient innovation and transparency. The company’s renowned The Never List was compiled to call out more than 1800 questionable or potentially harmful ingredients as part of its Blueprint for Clean Strategy.
Clean beauty products enjoyed an 11 per cent uplift in sales worldwide over the past year, by contrast to a 1.4 per cent decline in the general cosmetic market, reports the NPD Group.
The Carlyle Group, the world’s second largest private equity firm with US$246 billion in assets, has acquired a majority stake in Beautycounter. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Beautycounter was valued at US$1 billion.
Beautycounter is mainly a direct-to-consumer brand with 65,000 direct salespeople and is also available online and through its own bricks-and-mortar boutiques. Last year, its products entered Sephora as part of the beauty chain’s clean beauty initiative. CNBC, the global leader in business media and financial market coverage, also named Beautycounter in its 2020 Disruptor 50 list.
The company increased sales to US$500 million last year. Founder and CEO, Gregg Renfrew, says the Carlyle investment will help to raise the awareness and scale of the brand.
Jay Sammons, Head of Global Consumer, Media and Retail for The Carlyle Group, says the private equity giant views Beautycounter as a pioneer in the clean beauty industry. “We see an opportunity to support a talented, founder-led team in amplifying the brand’s mission to change beauty forever.”