Last year, LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) overtook its longtime rival, AmorePacific, to become South Korea’s largest beauty company. The owner of The History of Whoo, O Hui and Su:m37 brands also ranks as the 12th largest beauty company in the world.
The South Korean giant announced record-breaking sales for its 2021 financial year earlier this year. Overall sales rose 3.1 per cent to US$6.69 billion, marking LG H&H’s 17th consecutive year of growth.
Luxury beauty brands such as The History of Whoo led the pack with a strong performance during Alibaba’s Singles’ Day, the world’s largest online shopping event. LG H&H’s global luxury skincare sales reached US$724 million in 2021.
But LG H&H is fearful of putting too many eggs in the China basket. The company has announced that it will focus on the North American market this year, where The House of Whoo has achieved significant success.
To further its aims in North America, LG H&H has acquired a majority stake in The Crème Shop for US$120 million.
Founded in 2012 by Korean ex-pats, Theresa and Lawrence Kim, the LA-based brand targets Gen Z and Millennial consumers with affordable prices, quirky makeup and skincare and collaborations with Disney and Hello Kitty.
The Creme Shop is the third US brand LG H&H has invested in. In 2014, the multinational bought Arctic Fox, the US vegan haircare brand, and last year took a 56 per cent stake in Boinca, the US hair dye specialists. Both acquisitions were worth US$100 million.
At the beginning of the year, LG H&H set a sales target of US$470 million for the North American market for 2022 – an increase over 2021 revenues of US$420 million.