It’s been nearly two years since Orveon Global struck a deal with Shiseido Americas to acquire three of its prestige beauty brands—Laura Mercier, Buxom, and BareMinerals—and it’s gone far from the bare minimum to move these brands forward.
In August 2021, private equity group and Olaplex owner Advent International announced the creation of beauty collective Orveon Global—led by CEO Pascal Houdayer, a CPG vet who spent nearly two decades at Procter & Gamble—and its first acquisitions, worth $700 million.
- BareMinerals, which debuted in 1995, gained popularity with its powder complexion kits sold on QVC; Laura Mercier, founded in 1996, is known for its bestselling setting powder products; and 16-year-old Buxom’s plumping lip products are its top offering.
Houdayer told Retail Brew he soon began work on revamping the brands from their innovation pipelines to global footprints once the deal closed in December of that year, with the goal to be “sustainable face care experts.” Houdayer shared the moves Orveon Global has made to evolve these brands—especially in the era of the “skinification of makeup”—as well as what’s to come.
Hire calling: To start, the company has spent the past 18 months building out its executive team, including Estée Lauder vets Diane Kim as Laura Mercier’s global brand president, Salima Popatia as its chief digital and marketing services officer, and Laurent Mialhe as its chief supply chain officer. This year, it rounded out the team with the addition of Christina Hull, who had previously advised Estée Lauder on strategic M&A, as its chief transformation officer, as Orveon Global looks to grow its portfolio.
“The people that [I] hired didn’t come to work for money; they came for the purpose, because we’re very different as a company, very entrepreneurial,” Houdayer said. “They believe in the vision, and they want to contribute with their expertise.”
Making a production: It’s working to turn over the brands’ product assortment to clean, sustainable products, coming from both new innovations and the review of current products, Houdayer said.
The top drivers of consumers’ purchase intent for lipstick are the weight of the tube along with click and noise of the product, so brands often add metal and magnets which are heavier to transport and not recyclable. Orveon Global’s brands don’t use those materials, he said, and are “calling it out and trying to make a change.”
- New bottles and jars from BareMinerals are made with post-consumer recycled materials, while recycled plastic bottles are used to make its makeup bags.
- The company also has a forthcoming corporate sustainability project focused around saving water, Houdayer noted.
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The company has also updated the brands’ innovation pipeline beyond just sustainability, moving from an 18-month “master plan” it inherited from the acquisition to now looking to five years ahead, and from “smaller innovation to disruptive innovation,” Houdayer said.
As a result, BareMinerals has been moving more into skin care. Laura Mercier continues to work with its founder and brand namesake on new innovation that has been zeroing in on color cosmetics, across lipstick and eye products, Houdayer said. And Buxom—“our little baby,” Houdayer calls it—is continuing to grow its Plump Shot Collagen-Infused Lip Serum line.
Click into place: The three brands in its portfolio didn’t have a strong e-commerce presence when Orveon acquired them, so it sought to establish a “balance” between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce, shifting from Salesforce to Shopify Plus, which has helped boost the brands’ average order value. E-commerce now accounts for about 36%– 37% of total revenue, Houdayer said.
The company has also grown the geographic footprint of its brands, he said. BareMinerals was in 22 countries when it was acquired, and now operates in 48, on its way to a goal of 60, while Laura Mercier was introduced in China.
Buy the way: Looking ahead, Orveon Global is working to double the company’s business through organic growth of its three brands as well as through acquisitions, Houdayer said. The company aims to round out its cosmetics portfolio with the acquisition of two premium skin care brands (a playbook E.l.f. seems to be following in the mass skin care space with its recent acquisition of Naturium for $355 million).
Houdayer said it hopes to find brands that have established themselves in one market and take them into new regions, i.e. debuting a US brand in Europe and Asia, or a Korean brand in Europe and the US.
So when can we expect to hear an acquisition announcement? “I would have said yesterday,” Houdayer said, but a bit more realistically, he said he’d like to have deals finalized so it can integrate the brands into its portfolio by the beginning of next year.