NEWS
Clariant to acquire Lucas Meyer Cosmetics for $810 million
Swiss speciality chemical company Clariant has agreed to acquire personal care ingredient maker Lucas Meyer Cosmetics from IFF for $810m. Clariant said the acquisition
would expand its reach into high value cosmetic ingredients based on customer-driven innovation and natural solutions. “It’s a very nice fit with our
portfolio as there are some key ingredient areas like peptides, which we didn’t have in our portfolio,” added global personal care VP Michael Haspel. Lucas Meyer Cosmetics
was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Québec, Canada. The proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals
and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024. The total cash consideration of
$810m (CHF 720m) on a debt-free, cash-free basis is equivalent to an EV/reported EBITDA multiple (LTM August 2023) of 16.3x. Haspel told Personal Care Global that it had yet to be
decided whether the Lucas Meyer Cosmetics name would be subsumed into the Clariant fold. “We firmly recognise that you
can destroy brand value as well as create it, and we think Lucas Meyer has super strong brand value. We would expect to have one customer-facing unit on the active ingredient side,” he added.
Clariant chief executive Conrad
Keijzer said its ambition is to grow Lucas Meyer Cosmetics annual sales from $100m to $180m by 2028. “The proposed acquisition
will strengthen our position as a true specialty chemical company, our exposure towards consumer markets, and our footprint in North America, while supporting our goal to accelerate customer- and sustainability-driven innovation,” he added. “By combining our personal
care ingredients portfolio with Lucas Meyer Cosmetics, Clariant will become a leader in the high value cosmetic ingredients space, one of the most attractive, profitable, and fastest-growing specialty chemicals markets.”
BASF invests in US synthetic peptide start-up 3Helix
BASF has invested in US start-up 3Helix, which has developed a proprietary collagen-hybridizing peptide (CHP) technology. The partnership involves an
equity investment, a place on the 3Helix board of directors, and a licensing agreement granting BASF exclusive rights to commercialize CHP solutions for the personal care field. 3Helix’s patented CHP
technology is based on short, single-stranded collagen-like peptides that have the unique ability to bind to damaged and denatured collagen, enabling
“extraordinary” anti-ageing claims, says BASF. BASF plans to bring it in-house
and aims to launch initial CHP solutions in 2025. The partnership comes after
research and development work by 3Helix, which has seen their CHP technology quickly progress from laboratory scale to pilot stage. Since its establishment in
2015, Salt Lake City-based 3Helix has focused on developing an innovative technology platform to target damaged collagen for various applications, including personal care.
“With this partnership, BASF
continues to demonstrate our investment in open innovation and expand our innovative offerings to our customers,” said Dr. Marina Safont Sempere, Director of New
Business Models & Digital Officer, Care Chemicals at BASF. “3Helix’s results from
laboratory trials are very encouraging and show the potential of this new innovation for the personal care market,” she added. 3Helix chief executive Mike
Kirkness said: “It has been an exciting journey to bring our technology to this point where we can partner with BASF. “We look forward to the
intense collaboration in the coming years and welcome BASF to the 3Helix board of directors.”
L’Oréal acquires Danish microbiome research firm
L’Oréal has acquired Lactobio, a Danish probiotic and microbiome research company based in Copenhagen. Lactobio was founded in 2017
by Søren Kjærulff and Charlotte Vedel, who developed a proprietary microbiome discovery platform and screening method to select the most effective and safe strains. These precision probiotics,
created from a large biobank of Lactobacillus bacteria, will
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be used in the development of topical formulations containing live bacteria, taking inspiration from nature to impart numerous benefits to skin and hair. L’Oréal said the acquisition
builds on 20 years of research into the microbiome scientific territory and deepening its knowledge of the microorganisms that live on the skin’s surface. It also opens up, adds the
French beauty giant, new scientific opportunities, including leveraging Lactobio’s microbiome expertise and significant IP portfolio to develop safe and effective new cosmetic solutions using live bacteria. L’Oréal’s strong scientific
knowledge and technological advancements coupled with Lactobio’s best-in-class formulations using living organisms will significantly
strengthen and accelerate our microbiome research dedicated to beauty,” said Anne Colonna, Global Head of Advanced Research of L’Oréal Groupe. “By joining forces, we aim
to develop a new generation of cosmetics that will use cutting-edge innovations in the formulation process to provide science-based, precision probiotic and postbiotic products with new performance levels,” she added.
January 2024 PERSONAL CARE
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