Henkel has acquired a 75 percent stake in direct-to-consumer business, Invincible Brands Holding which is a parent company of beauty, skincare and haircare brands Hello Body, Banana Beauty and Mermaid+Me. The remaining 25 percent stake will be kept by Invincible Brands Holding founders – Bjoern Keune and Gennadi Tschernow – and private equity fund manager capital D.

 

The three D2C brands capture more than 1.5 million active consumers and will significantly strengthen Henkel Beauty Care’s digital footprint.

 

The founders and current management team will remain at the company.

 

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 digitalization by expanding our direct-to-consumer activities.”

 

Henkel is looking to further its foothold in the D2C market with the new acquisition.  

 

Jens-Martin Schwärzler, Executive Vice President and responsible for Henkel’s Beauty Care business, “With this acquisition we will strengthen our portfolio with fast-growing premium brands in attractive categories. Through 1:1 interactions with consumers we will gain valuable insights that will help us to create meaningful innovations for the entire retail 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. With Henkel there is now an exciting opportunity to continue building on that. The combination of our direct-to-consumer and social media marketing skills with Henkel's R&D, product knowledge and global footprint provides a winning formula. I am very much looking forward to working with the team at Henkel,” said Bjoern Keune, Co-Founder of Invincible Brands.

 

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 and that we will continue to be part of the business alongside Henkel.”

 

The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.