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← Journal  ·  Business  ·  10 min read  ·  June 11, 2026

The beauty acquisition decade.

Beauty has been one of the most active consumer M&A categories of the past decade, with billions in deal value flowing across global conglomerates and indie brands. A guided tour of the major acquisitions from 2015 to 2026, with deal values, valuation frames, and what each transaction signaled about how the industry prices brand value.

Key takeaways

  • Beauty has been one of the most active consumer M&A categories of the past decade. Multiple billion-dollar transactions and dozens of mid-sized deals across the 2015 to 2026 window.
  • Three deal patterns dominate. Global conglomerates buying indie brands; private equity rolling up multi-brand portfolios; and influencer-founded brands selling to scaled operators.
  • Revenue multiples typically range from 2x to 6x trailing twelve-month net sales, with high-growth indie brands commanding the higher end.
  • The 2025 e.l.f. Beauty acquisition of rhode (USD 1 billion total potential) is the most recent documented benchmark for influencer-founded beauty brand valuations.
  • Acquirers value brand affinity as much as product portfolio. The brands that command premium multiples typically combine strong direct-to-consumer audiences with demonstrated product-market fit.
Contents
  1. Why beauty M&A has been so active
  2. The major deals of 2015 to 2026
  3. The rhode acquisition: a 2025 benchmark
  4. Three patterns in beauty M&A
  5. How beauty brands are valued
  6. Outlook for the next acquisition cycle
  7. Frequently asked questions

Why beauty M&A has been so active.

Beauty has been one of the most acquisition-active consumer categories of the past decade, and the underlying reasons are structural rather than cyclical.[1]

First, beauty is a high-margin category. Gross margins on prestige beauty products typically run 65 to 80 percent, with operating margins for healthy brands in the high teens to low twenties. That economic profile makes beauty brands valuable acquisition targets because they generate cash quickly post-acquisition.

Second, beauty has unusually durable recurring purchase patterns. Consumers replenish skincare, makeup, and hair care products on roughly predictable schedules, which gives acquirers high confidence in revenue continuity post-acquisition.

Third, the rise of direct-to-consumer brands in the 2010s created a generation of indie beauty companies that scaled through social media and digital marketing without needing to build expensive retail or wholesale infrastructure. These brands became attractive acquisition targets at relatively early stages, often with USD 50 to 250 million in net sales and strong audience engagement. For more on the underlying market this fits into, see our piece on the pink economy.

The major deals of 2015 to 2026.

The following selection covers the most-cited beauty acquisitions of the past decade. Deal values are as publicly reported by the parties or by SEC filings where applicable.[2]

2016: L'Oréal acquires IT Cosmetics. L'Oréal announced the acquisition of IT Cosmetics for USD 1.2 billion in July 2016. IT Cosmetics was founded by Jamie Kern Lima and built a substantial business through QVC and direct-to-consumer channels before the acquisition. The deal was widely cited as one of the foundational examples of major conglomerate appetite for indie beauty brands.

2016: Estée Lauder acquires Too Faced. Estée Lauder announced the acquisition of Too Faced for approximately USD 1.45 billion in November 2016. Too Faced was a color cosmetics brand founded in 1998 that had grown substantially through Sephora and Ulta distribution.

2017: Estée Lauder acquires Deciem (initial investment). Estée Lauder took an initial stake in Deciem, the Toronto-based parent company of The Ordinary, in 2017. Estée Lauder later completed full acquisition of Deciem in 2021, with the transaction valuing the company at approximately USD 2.2 billion.

2019: L'Oréal acquires Aesop (announced 2023). While Aesop's acquisition by L'Oréal was announced in 2023 for USD 2.525 billion (the largest acquisition in L'Oréal's history at that point), Aesop had previously been majority-owned by Natura &Co since 2013. The 2023 transaction valued Aesop at over 5x trailing revenue.

2019: Shiseido acquires Drunk Elephant. Japanese beauty conglomerate Shiseido acquired Drunk Elephant for approximately USD 845 million in October 2019. Drunk Elephant was founded by Tiffany Masterson in 2012 and had become one of the fastest-growing skincare brands at Sephora before the acquisition. 2019 revenue was reportedly approximately USD 120 million, implying a revenue multiple of roughly 7x at acquisition.

2019: Unilever acquires Tatcha. Consumer goods conglomerate Unilever acquired Tatcha for a reported USD 500 million in 2019. Tatcha was a California-based, Japan-developed skincare brand. Unilever owns Kate Sommerville, Murad, and Dermalogica, and Tatcha represented an additional premium skincare addition to that portfolio.

2020: Puig acquires Charlotte Tilbury. Spanish beauty conglomerate Puig acquired a majority stake in Charlotte Tilbury in June 2020, in a transaction widely reported in the range of high hundreds of millions to over USD 1 billion. The brand was founded by makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury in 2013 and had grown substantially in the years prior to acquisition.

2022: Puig acquires Byredo. Puig acquired Stockholm-based fragrance and beauty brand Byredo in February 2022, in a transaction reportedly valued at over USD 1 billion. Byredo had been built by founder Ben Gorham starting in 2006 and had become a major indie fragrance brand.

2023: e.l.f. Beauty acquires Naturium. e.l.f. Beauty acquired Naturium for USD 355 million in October 2023, marking e.l.f.'s entry into a more premium skincare positioning beyond its mass-market color cosmetics base.

2024: L'Oréal acquires Aesop completion. L'Oréal's USD 2.525 billion acquisition of Aesop from Natura &Co completed in 2024. The deal was, at the time, L'Oréal's largest acquisition in company history.

2025: e.l.f. Beauty acquires rhode. e.l.f. Beauty announced the acquisition of rhode (the beauty brand founded by Hailey Bieber) on May 28, 2025. Transaction value was USD 800 million at closing, comprised of USD 600 million cash and USD 200 million stock, plus a potential USD 200 million earnout over three years. The transaction valued rhode at approximately 3.8x trailing twelve-month net sales of USD 212 million. The deal also expanded e.l.f. Beauty's presence in the prestige beauty channel, with Sephora as a key distribution partner.

The rhode acquisition: a 2025 benchmark.

The e.l.f. Beauty acquisition of rhode in May 2025 is worth examining in detail because it sets the most recent documented benchmark for influencer-founded beauty brand valuations.[3]

Key terms of the transaction, per e.l.f. Beauty's SEC filing:

The deal demonstrates several things. First, that founder-led brands with strong cultural connection continue to command premium multiples in 2025 and 2026. Second, that established beauty operators are willing to write USD 1 billion checks for the right strategic addition. Third, that the post-2020 wave of celebrity-and-influencer-founded brands has matured enough to generate meaningful exits at scale.

The strategic case for the deal also illustrates broader patterns. For more on why brand-owned audiences have become commercially valuable, see our piece on the rise of brand-owned media.

Three patterns in beauty M&A.

Across the deals listed above, three patterns recur with enough consistency to be worth treating as the structural categories of contemporary beauty M&A.[4]

Pattern 1: Global conglomerate buys indie brand. The most common deal pattern. A major beauty conglomerate (L'Oréal, Estée Lauder, Shiseido, Unilever, Puig, Coty) acquires an indie brand that has scaled to USD 50 to 250 million in net sales. The acquirer brings global distribution, retail relationships, and operational scale. The acquired brand brings cultural relevance and a distinct customer base. Examples: L'Oréal/IT Cosmetics, Estée Lauder/Too Faced, Shiseido/Drunk Elephant, Unilever/Tatcha, Puig/Charlotte Tilbury.

Pattern 2: Private equity rolls up multi-brand portfolio. Private equity firms acquire majority stakes in indie beauty brands with the explicit goal of later sale to a strategic acquirer or IPO. General Atlantic, KKR, TSG Consumer Partners, L Catterton, and other firms have been active in this space across the decade. The acquired brands typically continue to operate independently for several years before being sold to a strategic acquirer.

Pattern 3: Scaled operator acquires founder-led brand. The newest pattern, exemplified by the 2023 to 2025 e.l.f. Beauty deals (Naturium and rhode). A successful publicly-traded beauty operator acquires a smaller, faster-growing brand to diversify portfolio and expand into adjacent channels or demographics. This pattern is distinct from the conglomerate pattern because the acquirer is not a multi-decade incumbent but a more recently-scaled public-market operator.

How beauty brands are valued.

Beauty brand acquisitions over the past decade have typically been priced on a multiple of trailing twelve-month net sales, with adjustments for growth rate, gross margin, customer acquisition cost, brand recognition, and channel mix.[5]

Typical revenue multiples observed across documented transactions:

Adjustments and premiums applied:

Outlook for the next acquisition cycle.

Two observations from the most recent set of deals:

First, the size of the typical beauty deal has continued to grow. The 2016 IT Cosmetics deal at USD 1.2 billion was extraordinary at the time. The 2024 Aesop deal at USD 2.525 billion is now the high-water mark. The progression suggests that acquirers are willing to write larger checks for brands that genuinely matter culturally, even as the broader M&A environment has tightened in other consumer categories.

Second, the categories that are getting acquired have expanded. The early-decade pattern centered on indie skincare and color cosmetics. The current wave includes wellness-adjacent skincare (rhode), prestige fragrance (Byredo), professional makeup (Charlotte Tilbury), and product lines built around specific founders or aesthetics. The breadth of the category that now attracts acquisition interest is notably wider than it was in 2015.

Beauty M&A is likely to remain active in 2026 and 2027 for the structural reasons discussed earlier in this piece. The companies that build strong brand identities, durable customer relationships, and clear strategic positioning continue to find acquirers. The companies that build for organic growth without considering eventual exit options have fewer paths available to them.

Frequently asked questions.

What is the largest beauty acquisition of the past decade?

Several large deals are candidates depending on how the question is framed. By disclosed deal value, the most-discussed large beauty acquisitions of the 2015 to 2026 window include Shiseido's purchase of Drunk Elephant for approximately USD 845 million in 2019, Puig's purchase of Charlotte Tilbury reportedly valued at over USD 1 billion in 2020, and e.l.f. Beauty's USD 1 billion acquisition of rhode (Hailey Bieber's brand) announced in May 2025.

Which beauty conglomerate has been most active in acquisitions?

Several global beauty conglomerates have been highly acquisition-active over the past decade. L'Oréal has acquired IT Cosmetics, Aesop, and many others. Estée Lauder has acquired Too Faced, Tom Ford Beauty, and Deciem (parent of The Ordinary). Shiseido acquired Drunk Elephant. Unilever acquired Tatcha. Puig acquired Charlotte Tilbury and Byredo. Coty has been active across multiple deals. e.l.f. Beauty has emerged as a major acquirer of newer indie brands, including Naturium in 2023 and rhode in 2025.

What valuation multiples do beauty brands typically command?

Beauty brand acquisitions over the past decade have typically commanded revenue multiples between 2x and 6x trailing twelve-month net sales, with premium brands and high-growth properties commanding the higher end. The e.l.f. Beauty acquisition of rhode at approximately 3.8x LTM net sales (per SEC disclosure) sits within this range. Faster-growing, higher-margin indie brands have at times commanded multiples above 5x, while more mature mass-market brands have typically traded at lower multiples.

Why has beauty M&A activity been so high?

Three reasons. First, beauty is a high-margin category with strong recurring purchase patterns, which makes acquired brands cash-flow-positive faster than most consumer M&A targets. Second, indie beauty brands have proven able to build meaningful scale through social media and direct-to-consumer channels, creating attractive acquisition targets at relatively early stages. Third, the major beauty conglomerates have used acquisition as a primary growth strategy because organic product launches in mature categories are increasingly difficult.

What does the rhode acquisition tell us about current beauty M&A?

The e.l.f. Beauty acquisition of rhode in May 2025 is instructive because it documents what acquirers will pay for a fast-growing influencer-founded brand at relative scale. The transaction value was USD 800 million at closing plus a potential USD 200 million earnout, for a total potential value of USD 1 billion. At approximately 3.8x trailing twelve-month net sales of USD 212 million, the deal demonstrates that founder-led brands with strong cultural cachet continue to command premium multiples in 2025 and 2026.

Sources

  1. Industry analyst coverage of beauty industry margins and acquisition activity, including Business of Fashion reporting on DTC beauty unit economics 2015 to 2026.
  2. Public deal announcements and SEC filings for each transaction listed: L'Oréal/IT Cosmetics (2016), Estée Lauder/Too Faced (2016), Estée Lauder/Deciem (initial 2017, completed 2021), Shiseido/Drunk Elephant (2019), Unilever/Tatcha (2019), Puig/Charlotte Tilbury (2020), Puig/Byredo (2022), e.l.f. Beauty/Naturium (2023), L'Oréal/Aesop (announced 2023, completed 2024), e.l.f. Beauty/rhode (announced May 2025). Coverage from The Fashion Law, Business of Fashion, WWD, Reuters, and others.
  3. e.l.f. Beauty, "Form 8-K Filing, May 28, 2025," with full transaction details. Available via the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR system.
  4. Synthesis of M&A pattern analysis from contemporary beauty industry coverage and the deal record above.
  5. Industry analyst coverage of beauty brand valuation methodology, including Business of Fashion analysis and SEC filings disclosing valuation rationale for individual transactions.

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