Henkel to acquire major stake in D2C hair care, beauty brands
Henkel has signed an agreement to acquire a 75% stake in Invincible Brands Holding, a fast-growing direct-to-consumer (D2C) business based in Berlin.
Invincible Brands Holding comprises of HelloBody, Banana Beauty and Mermaid+Me. Through this transaction, Henkel will significantly expand its D2C go-to-market footprint in beauty care and add strong digital capabilities in areas such as performance marketing, analytics, and fast innovation.
Mermaid+Me is a German hair care brand with a 100% vegan range, including hairsprays, shampoos, conditioners and masks. HelloBody specialises in natural skin care and hair care products, while Banana Beauty focuses on lipsticks, lip liners and similar products.
In the last 12 months, as of June, the businesses generated total sales of approximately €100 million and employed around 180 people. The three D2C brands capture more than 1.5 million active customers.
The remaining 25% stake in the business will stay with the founders of Invincible Brands Holding – Bjoern Keune and Gennadi Tschernow – and private equity fund manager capital D.
Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel said: “As part of our strategic framework for purposeful growth, we pursue value-adding acquisitions to strengthen our businesses. This agreement is a proof point of how we consistently implement our strategy. It is also in line with our objective to strengthen our competitive edge in the area of digitalisation by expanding our direct-to-consumer activities.”
“With this acquisition, we will strengthen our portfolio with fast-growing premium brands in attractive categories,” added Jens-Martin Schwärzler, executive vice-president responsible for Henkel’s Beauty Care business.
“I would like to thank our entire team at Invincible Brands, together with capital D, for executing a phenomenal growth plan over the past two years,” said Bjoern Keune, co-founder of Invincible Brands
“With Henkel, there is now an exciting opportunity to continue building on that. The combination of our D2C and social media marketing skills with Henkel’s research and development, product knowledge and global footprint provides a winning formula. I am very much looking forward to working with the team at Henkel.”
Stephan Lobmeyr, co-founder of capital D, added: “Two years ago we identified the disruptive nature and strength of the business model of Invincible Brands, a pioneer social media marketing, and first-class brand incubator.
“We have supported Bjoern, Gennadi and the team to grow and conquer this nascent market and are really pleased that Henkel’s investment validates the strengths of the brands and the concept that we will continue to be part of the business alongside Henkel.”
Invincible Brands Holding comprises of HelloBody, Banana Beauty and Mermaid+Me. Through this transaction, Henkel will significantly expand its D2C go-to-market footprint in beauty care and add strong digital capabilities in areas such as performance marketing, analytics, and fast innovation.
Mermaid+Me is a German hair care brand with a 100% vegan range, including hairsprays, shampoos, conditioners and masks. HelloBody specialises in natural skin care and hair care products, while Banana Beauty focuses on lipsticks, lip liners and similar products.
In the last 12 months, as of June, the businesses generated total sales of approximately €100 million and employed around 180 people. The three D2C brands capture more than 1.5 million active customers.
The remaining 25% stake in the business will stay with the founders of Invincible Brands Holding – Bjoern Keune and Gennadi Tschernow – and private equity fund manager capital D.
Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel said: “As part of our strategic framework for purposeful growth, we pursue value-adding acquisitions to strengthen our businesses. This agreement is a proof point of how we consistently implement our strategy. It is also in line with our objective to strengthen our competitive edge in the area of digitalisation by expanding our direct-to-consumer activities.”
“With this acquisition, we will strengthen our portfolio with fast-growing premium brands in attractive categories,” added Jens-Martin Schwärzler, executive vice-president responsible for Henkel’s Beauty Care business.
“I would like to thank our entire team at Invincible Brands, together with capital D, for executing a phenomenal growth plan over the past two years,” said Bjoern Keune, co-founder of Invincible Brands
“With Henkel, there is now an exciting opportunity to continue building on that. The combination of our D2C and social media marketing skills with Henkel’s research and development, product knowledge and global footprint provides a winning formula. I am very much looking forward to working with the team at Henkel.”
Stephan Lobmeyr, co-founder of capital D, added: “Two years ago we identified the disruptive nature and strength of the business model of Invincible Brands, a pioneer social media marketing, and first-class brand incubator.
“We have supported Bjoern, Gennadi and the team to grow and conquer this nascent market and are really pleased that Henkel’s investment validates the strengths of the brands and the concept that we will continue to be part of the business alongside Henkel.”
