Texan private equity firm Gauge Capital has snapped up a majority stake in Australian beauty brand Coco & Eve for more than $100 million.
The sale of the undisclosed stake continues a string of transactions at local beauty brands. Last year, men’s grooming brand Patricks received a substantial investment from the venture arm of Japan’s Shiseido;Emily Hamilton, founder of beauty brand Coco & Eve, has sold to private equity. Ms Hamilton is also co-founder of beauty subscription service Bellabox, and Supernova, a consumer retail platform based in Singapore that connects 38 countries and seven warehouses. Coco & Eve sat under Supernova’s umbrella of direct-to-consumer brands including beauty label Sand & Sky, which is headed bySupernova was an early mover in leveraging social media to engage with shoppers and grow sales. Coco & Eve focused selling through TikTok outside of Australia.
Ms Hamilton will continue to run Coco & Eve, which is on track to top $120 million in revenue in the 12 months to December 31, up by 35 per cent on the year before. The brand is profitable, with no debt, according to Ms Hamilton, who would not disclose the post deal valuation or earnings.