BDT Capital Partners is investing alongside Puig to acquire a majority stake in Charlotte Tilbury. The brand’s founders “will roll over a significant minority stake.”

WHO: The company, launched in 2013 by British makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, has created a hybrid beauty brand encompassing skincare, makeup, and fragrance.

Puig is a third-generation family-owned fashion and fragrance business. Its portfolio of brands includes a combination of owned brands such as Dries Van Noten, Carolina Herrera, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, Jean Paul Gaultier, Penhaligon’s, and L’Artisan Parfumeur; licenses such as Prada, Christian Louboutin, and Comme des Garçons; and lifestyle fragrances. The products are sold in over 150 countries.

WHY: This deal allows Puig to dig deeper into the color cosmetics category, and will be the company’s first entry into the category after acquiring the Christian Louboutin beauty license in March 2019. The company employs 1,300 people and is distributed in 76 countries.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Tilbury said in the statement that joining forces with Puig “will help us achieve our limitless ambitions. We’ve reached a pivotal point in our growth since launching seven years ago, and we’re looking forward to unlocking new opportunities with Puig, which is the perfect partner as we build an iconic brand to last.”

“Puig drives some of the world’s most distinctive and premium fashion and fragrance brands and has always inspired me with how it innovates and reimagines brands through storytelling and creativity, and its respect for founder-led brands like mine,” continued Tilbury. “I feel like I’m home.”

“We are beyond excited to partner with Charlotte and her team and support them in the next stage of developing the brand,” said Marc Puig, Puig Chairman and CEO. “We are proud to welcome Charlotte Tilbury to our family which marks a key milestone in our ambition to develop a strong makeup and skincare business.”

DETAILS:

• BDT Capital Partners is investing alongside Puig to hold a minority stake. The merchant bank also acted as a financial adviser to Puig.
• The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• According to WWD, a source pegged the brand’s purchase price at around 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion), making the acquisition about five times revenues.
• The brand’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are said to be in the high $20 million range.
• In fiscal 2018, Charlotte Tilbury’s sales rose 34 percent to 100.9 million pounds, while EBITDA was 3.8 million pounds, up from 2.8 million pounds in the previous year. Net profit after tax was 3.5 million pounds, according to Companies House, the official register of UK businesses.
• Tilbury is to remain as Chairman, President and Chief Creative Officer.
• Demetra Pinsent will maintain her Chief Executive Officer role.
• In 2017, Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital made a minority investment in the business, and Welsh-born billionaire Sir Michael Moritz, a partner at Sequoia Capital, joined the board of the beauty brand.
• Tilbury’s other minority investors included Venrex Investment Management, run by Mark Esiri and Samos Investments, which funds many e-commerce and energy ventures.
• Charlotte Tilbury was advised by Goldman Sachs, Freshfields, Jefferies, and Withers.
• BDT Capital Partners and Baker McKenzie advised Puig.