Henkel has signed an agreement to acquire a 51 percent stake in eSalon.com LLC, headquartered in Los Angeles. Launched in 2010, the company’s core offering is individually customized hair coloration for at home application. Through this joint venture, Henkel will further strengthen its hair coloration portfolio and expand its digital business.
JV to Strengthen Henkel’s Hair Coloration Business
eSalon creates customized hair colorations. The personalized formula is mixed on an individual basis for at home application and is available as a one-time purchase or as a subscription. The company has unique capabilities in individualized production (“batch-of-1”) for a truly personalized at-home color experience.
In fiscal 2018, the business generated sales of around 30 million dollars, mainly in the US market. eSalon employs around 120 people and has its main site including production, office and warehouse in Los Angeles.
eSalon Addresses Growing Trend of Personalization
“We continue to drive the execution of our strategy by strengthening our portfolio and our digital capabilities through targeted investments. With this joint venture, we aim to grow our core business and at the same time expand in an innovative digital business model. The strong eSalon business which addresses the growing trend of personalization in beauty care will be a perfect fit.”
“We expect to gain valuable consumer insights that will also help us to create meaningful innovations for our classical retail consumers”, says Jens-Martin Schwärzler, Executive Vice President and responsible for Henkel’s Beauty Care business.
“The founders and existing management team will stay on board and join forces with Henkel to further accelerate the future growth of the business.”
“Through our partnership with Henkel, we look forward to accelerating our marketing efforts and enhancing our product offering for our current and future clients”, says eSalon CEO Francisco Gimenez.
The parties agreed to not disclose any financial details of the transaction. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Source: Henkel