The Carlyle Group, one of the largest private-equity funds in the world, has acquired a majority stake in clean cosmetics brand Beautycounter — a transaction that values the company at $1 billion.
The partnership will allow Beautycounter to accelerate its strategic initiatives, including increasing brand awareness as well as bolstering the company’s integrated, omnichannel business model, according to a release. The digitally native clean beauty brand is available online, in physical retail stores, through strategic partnerships and through its community of more than 65,000 independent sellers across North America.
Since its founding, Beautycounter aims to lead the way in ingredient innovation and transparency, including the introduction of its “The Never List” to ensure 1,800 questionable or potentially harmful ingredients are never used in its product formulations as part of its Blueprint for Clean. The brand also is known for its advocacy, passing nine pieces of legislation to advance personal care product safety in the U.S.
“In 2013, I launched Beautycounter with the simple mission to get safer products into the hands of everyone,” said Gregg Renfrew, Founder and CEO of Beautycounter in a statement. “Today marks an exciting and important milestone for our company, and I am so proud to partner with Carlyle as we continue to work toward achieving that mission. I have long admired Jay and the team at Carlyle for their experience working with brands at the intersection of cultural relevance and consumer demand and believe that our combined vision will be instrumental in accelerating Beautycounter as the leader in clean beauty, and in the beauty industry as a whole.”
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The investment in Beautycounter builds on Carlyle’s long-term emphasis on partnering with founder-led brands focused on growth, the release said. Equity capital for the investment came from Carlyle Partners VII, an $18.5 billion fund that makes majority and strategic minority investments primarily in the U.S. in targeted industries, including consumer, media and retail.
