South Korea's largest cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax is targeting the Chinese color cosmetics sector, expanding its presence in partnership with Yatsen Holding Limited. A joint venture was launched by Cosmax and Yatsen Holding in 2020 with paid-in capital of 400 million yuan ($55.5 million), with the former owning a stake of 51% and the latter 49%, to build a manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, China.
Located in the Mingzhu Industrial Development Park in the Chonghua District of Guangzhou, the plant occupies an area of 60,593 square meters, making it the single largest factory in Asia. It covers four floors, allocated for factories, warehouses, research, and offices. The facility is equipped with resource-saving services, including solar power generation and state-of-the-art purification features to minimize water and air pollution. The automated processes and logistics system are among the best in Asia.
The joint venture plant’s initial production plan is 5 million pieces per month. According to the plan, production will be expanded to 30 million monthly units or approximately 400 million units annually.
Founded in 2016, Yatsen has a brand portfolio that includes Perfect Diary, its first and largest brand, and Abby's Choice, and acquired Little Ondine (2020), Galenic (2020), and Eve Lom (2021). In 2020, the company raised $617 million in a US IPO, valuing the company at $7.82 billion. Cosmax has been a key manufacturing partner for Yatsen since 2017. The joint venture supports Yatsen's vision of becoming a global beauty conglomerate. Cosmax will gradually transfer production volume for Yatsen from its existing Shanghai and Guangzhou plants to the new plant.
“The combination of Yatsen Holding’s strengths in market analysis and distribution and Cosmax’s edge in research, production, and quality has enabled both companies to achieve significant growth every year,” said Lee Byung-man, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Cosmax BTI Inc., the holding company of Cosmax.
The company has set the goal of the plant to become China’s largest single cosmetics production base, with more than 2,500 employees producing 30 to 40 million units per month from 2025.
