Lipsticks with brushes
CosmeticsLinking
COSMETICS AND BEAUTY M&A

We are the cosmetics division of ThinkingLinking.

Industry

The industry is constantly evolving as consumers are demanding beyond fashion, personality and status, which they had been conditioned to want in the past.  Now they want to know what’s in their products in terms of efficacy, naturalness & ethics.  They want products which are authentic and connected to their views, feelings, tastes and own demographics.  Such needs and growing technologies have cultivated a range of indie brands that have rapidly become highly competitive, challenging the industry leaders and forcing them to adapt to the new world order. 

Our main areas of focus

CosmeticsLinking's M&A focus is on the companies we describe as being involved in "Progressive Cosmetics" and helping them to sell to major groups, sell stakes or raise funds.  Such companies include: 

•  brands that reach out to emerging or different demographic markets.
•  brands that specialise in products that are science-based, efficacious or classified as cosmeceuticals.
•  brands that advocate the use of natural ingredients.
•  brands that strive for sustainability and greater social responsibility. 
•  brands that have overlaps in above areas.
•  cosmetic ingredients companies without own consumer brands which could give major groups a competitive edge.

Research

Not Cosmetic - Top 20 players in the global beauty industry

Our Cosmetics Linking division investigated 52 transactions worth over €16 billion made by the Top 20 global cosmetics groups in the past five years.  The research reveals the motives and trends behind the surge in the acquisition of indie brands.

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We found that acquisitions are about substance (ingredients with scientific basis for efficacy, with track-and-trace conditions, ethical and ecological provenance) and not about brand value which has been the traditional motive for deals in the sector for decades. This new lack of ‘superficiality’ gave us the idea to call the report ‘Not Cosmetic’.  The M&A trend ties in with the consumer trend of online and traditional customers insisting not just on one of these new attributes but sometimes requiring a product that ticks many boxes.

'Not Cosmetic' report: