A year after selling 60 percent of the business to General Atlantic at a $2.2 billion valuation, Morphe’s parent company has acquired a brand, hair-care line Playa; incubated several others, and changed the company name — the broader business is now Forma Brands, which chief executive officer Myles McCormick noted was Latin for form and beauty.
Playa serves as a good example for the types of deals the company is looking for, McCormick noted. Forma is not in the market trying to compete to buy $100 million brands, he said, but rather is looking for smaller companies it can plug into existing operations and distribution partners, which include Ulta Beauty in the U.S., Douglas in Europe and a smattering of Morphe stores globally, to grow them.
“We felt there was a big opportunity to do something where we believe the trends to be headed in makeup, but also be able to service and offer the existing consumer base things they really love about the Morphe brand in terms of its pigmented, value approach to cosmetics. With Morphe 2, we’ve layered hints and tints and applications that are more multipurpose,” McCormick said. That age group is one that McCormick says has “very different preferences” than Millennials when it comes to makeup.
Two other brand launches — one in body, and one in skin care — are planned before the end of the year.