Experienced Capital is expanding its beauty portfolio with its second acquisition with a 41 percent stake in French beauty retail business and product line Oh My Cream.

WHO: Oh My Cream was founded in 2012 by Juliette Lévy, after graduating from ESSEC business school. The retailer sells a highly curated selection of niche clean brands in its 10 freestanding boutiques in Paris, Lyon, and Bordeaux, and online. The concept has a distinctly Space NK or Blue Mercury feel with a French twist. The brand also has its own skincare line.

Experienced Capital Partners is a Paris-based fund founded in 2016 by Frédéric Boiousse, Emmanuel Pradère, and Elie Kouby specializing in minority or majority investments with or without leverage effect, for companies with values ranging from €10MM to €100 million. Its portfolio includes the recent investment in  Swedish skincare brand L:A Bruket.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “We want to make it the future Sephora of accessible luxury,” summarizes Emmanuel Pradère, president and co-founder of Experienced Capital, with Frédéric Biousse and Elie Kouby.

DETAILS:

• Experienced Capital acquired a 41 percent stake in French beauty retail business and product line Oh My Cream.
• The deal is the first under ECP’s second fund, which raised 70 million euros in a first round in July and has a target of 150 million euros, the French investment firm said in a statement.
• Investment fund Eutopia, a shareholder in OMC since 2016, is also reinvesting alongside ECP.
• According to WWD, the brand expects to post sales of 13 million euros in 2019, with 50 percent of business generated online and 50 percent through its French store network. The retailer plans to reach 15 locations by year-end and quadruple sales by accelerating its digital and retail expansion.
• In October 2016 the retail raised $6.5 million in a second round of financing from Otium Capital.
• The initial funding of 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million) came from angel investors, and funded the opening of the first five shops and development of the website.