Clean makeup brand ILIA Beauty is being acquired by the Courtin-Clarins family holding company, Famille C, which also owns Clarins, as reported by WWD.
The move will give the holding a pioneer and leader in the rapidly growing clean beauty category, which is expected to register significant growth in coming years. According to Brandessence Market Research, the global clean beauty market’s sales are expected to reach $11.56 billion in 2027.
Groupe Clarins president and CEO, Jonathan Zrihen, described the acquisition as being "in line with the ambitions of the Courtin-Clarins family: remaining on the cutting-edge to develop sustainable beauty for tomorrow."
The ten-year-old, Los Angeles-based brand is among the buzziest beauty brands today. The company’s “motto for clean” includes using organic and natural bases, but sometimes including synthetics in formulations. Each product is looked at individually.
In the U.S., ILIA kept a focus on its own website, which generates half its business, and on Sephora. The brand has tight distribution — altogether it’s in a few hundred doors, including Credo, Space NK and MECCA, with which ILIA has been doing business for several years.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year. Once it’s done, Famille C will own the majority share of the brand, while Clarins will hold a minority stake, as will Plavskic and Lynda Berkowitz, the brand’s CEO.
"We think there is immense potential," said Prisca Courtin-Clarins, of the brand overall. "It is a company that is profitable. By 2025, we aim to triple ILIA's value."
She believes ILIA will be like a little sister to Clarins. "It is the first, and I intend to develop other segments in complementary areas of beauty around Clarins."
ILIA Beauty is available in Australia via MECCA, here.
Image source: @iliabeauty
