AGIC buys French beauty packaging player

The size of the transaction was not disclosed. The principal seller is Sparring Capital, an investor in small to mid-size French companies. It bought a majority stake in Pure Trade in 2020, working in partnership with key management team members including Stefane Ladous, the company’s founder and CEO, and two managing directors, Virginie Honoré and Mona Lee.

Management, including those three individuals, will re-invest in the business alongside AGIC. The new owner plans to drive growth through expansion in Asia Pacific and the US as well as through “a synergistic buy-and-build strategy to tap into adjacent market segments,” said Heiko von Dewitz, a managing partner at AGIC, in a statement.

Pure Trade was established in 1996 as part of The Brand Nation and achieved independence in 2015. The company produces makeup palettes, compact cases, pouches and bags, accessories, and other packaging solutions. Customers include Dior, Givenchy Parfums, YSL Beauty, Lancôme, Valentino, Guerlain, Clarins, Jimmy Choo Parfums, Jean Paul Gaultier Parfums, Prada Beauty, and Marc Jacobs Beauty.

Sparring claims to have helped Pure Trade achieve sustained growth across each continent in which it operates – the Asia business is run out of Shenzhen and Hong Kong – and develop its customer base. Global headcount now exceeds 80 people and revenue is on track to reach EUR 90m (USD 100m) in 2023, the private equity firm said in a separate statement.

This is not the first time a China-related private equity firm has invested in beauty products packaging, nor done so by targeting a Europe-based asset. In 2018, Trustar Capital acquired Axilone, a supplier of primary plastic and metal casings for lipstick, fragrance, and skincare products.

The same year, Bain Capital executed a similar China-US play. It acquired US-based cosmetic packaging components producer World Wide Packaging (WPP) and concurrently took a minority stake in Chinese industry peer Gerpman. The subsequent merger gave WWP a leg up in a beauty products market where demand was growing three times as fast as in the US.

AGIC was established in 2015 and claims USD 2.2bn in assets under management. Fund II closed on USD 1.2bn in 2021. Pure Trade represents the firm’s first deal in France. Other recent investment activity includes participation in the acquisition of PR Electronics, a Danish manufacturer of signal processing equipment with an existing base in China.

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• Topics
• Europe
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Industrials
• Buyouts
• AGIC Capital
• China
• beauty & personal care