Beauty brand Coco & Eve sells majority stake to Gauge Capital for $100m
Gauge Capital, a Texas-based private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Australian beauty brand Coco & Eve for over $100 million.
Transaction snapshot
Deal value: More than $100 million
Deal multiples: N/A
Deal type: Majority stake acquisition
Investors: Gauge Capital
Coco & Eve, a vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand, was founded in 2018 by Emily Hamilton and Alexander Ostrowski. The company offers hair, self-tan, and body care products, including items like Sunny Honey Bali Bronzing Foam.
This deal follows recent transactions in the Australian beauty sector:
Patricks received investment from Shiseido's venture arm
Bondi Sands sold to Kao Corporation for $450 million
Aesop was acquired by L'Oréal for $3.7 billion
Coco & Eve sells directly to consumers and through retailers such as Sephora, Boots, Myer, Adore Beauty, and The Iconic.
Hamilton said consumers are still willing to spend $40 on shampoo if the product works and has high-quality ingredients. She noted strong growth in the UK market at 80%, with Australia and Canada also growing. Europe has been more challenging, with single-digit growth this year.
The brand is part of Supernova, a Singapore-based consumer retail platform connecting 38 countries and seven warehouses. Supernova's portfolio includes other direct-to-consumer brands like Sand & Sky.
Coco & Eve has focused on selling through TikTok outside Australia, recognising it as a growing channel for product education.
Gauge Capital, which recently closed its fourth fund with $US1.4 billion in commitments, expressed interest in Coco & Eve about a year ago. The firm is building its tanning products portfolio, Soleil Collective, following its purchase of Brisbane-based Loving Tan last year.
Hamilton will continue to run Coco & Eve, which is on track to exceed $120 million in revenue for the year ending December 31, a 35% increase from the previous year. The brand is profitable and debt-free.
