One year after purchasing Atelier du Sourcil, France's number-one retailer focused on eyebrows, Ieva Group, has acquired Boudoir du Regard, the second player in the country, which had been undergoing restructuring.

WHO: Boudoir du Regard is a salon operator that offers eyebrow tint, hair removal and restructuring, micropigmentation, eyelash extensions and enhancement, and other services. The brand also has a range of products focused on the eye and brows. Boudoir du Regard is considered the second French player in this highly fragmented market.

Ieva, founded by Jean Michel Karam, is a fusion of high-precision technology, artificial intelligence, craftsmanship, luxury, and beauty featuring jewelry that measures environmental stressors and physical activity. The brand’s products are linked to a mobile application that gives preventative and personalized recommendations based on environmental information and answers to brief questions pertaining to a person's level of expertise in beauty and their hair and skin preoccupations. Karam, a microelectronics expert, previously launched IOMA, the customized skincare brand acquired by Unilever.

WHY: Boudoir du Regard had filed a request for a restructuring procedure at the commercial court of Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. The deal adds additional retail doors for Ieva to promote the products and services in the Ieva Group portfolio, which ranges from connected jewelry to organic haircare, including a connected beauty subscription. The goal is to become "the Netflix of beauty" with 100 million euros in turnover by 2026, and an IPO.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "As part of this procedure, the financial and operational support provided by Ieva Group should help the company rebalance its financial position and have the resources it needs to deploy its new strategic plan under the aegis of Ieva Group," the company said in a statement.

The COVID-19 crisis and the various rounds of store closures ended up weakening the Boudoir de Regard and its 20 or so points of sale," said Florence Temim, President and founder of Boudoir du Regard, in the statement. "The arrival of IEVA Group helps put our company back on the path to financial stability.

"With L'Atelier du Sourcil and now Le Boudoir du Regard, Ieva Group will strengthen its leadership in the eye care beauty market, which is so important for the well-being of our clients," said Jean Michel Karam, chairman and founder of Ieva Group.

DETAILS:

• Ieva Group has acquired Boudoir du Regard from its founders for an undisclosed amount.
• Boudoir du Regard has 20 stores and a turnover of 5 million euros.
• In July 2020, Ieva raised a 12-million-euro round of financing led by Crédit Mutuel Innovation combined with non-dilutive leverage of 5 million euros. The pool of Ieva's investors now includes SEB Alliance. The group also acquired beauty eye care specialist L'Atelier du Sourcil from its shareholders.
• Ieva has maintained the pace of openings at more than one per month, with a network that now has 116 stores, of which 71 are franchisees and 45 are owned. It achieves more than 30 million euros in turnover. It has its eye on international expansion in Italy through a partnership with Marionnaud to open dedicated spaces, and plans to open in Miami or Los Angeles.
• In July of 2019, Ieva raised 2.5 million euros via a convertible bonds issuance made via a private placement with CM-CIC Capital Innovation.
• The first round of funding was about 3 million euros in the second half of 2016, with CM-CIC Capital Innovation, Karam, and others.