LCatterton Expands Investment Empire with Strategic Acquisition of ThorneHealthTech

In October, LCatterton, the world's largest consumer private equity fund established by renowned luxury brand LV, announced its completion of the strategic acquisition of ThorneHealthTech, a global leader in "AI+Health" technology.

With managed assets reaching $34 billion, LCatterton has focused on eight key sectors: cross-border expansion, consumer technology, food and beverages, pets, beauty and personal care, medical and health, new retail, and fashion.

The ambitious investment portfolio of LV is expanding gradually, and this acquisition is just another step in expanding its investment empire.

1. High-Value Acquisition

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has become a value-added asset for companies across various industries, attracting the attention of many private equity funds, including LV.

LCatterton acquired all issued and outstanding common shares of ThorneHealthTech, accounting for approximately 97% of the total shares, at a price of $10.2 per share. The total acquisition amount reached approximately $662 million (over ¥4.8 billion).

The price of $10.2 per share is the highest since ThorneHealthTech went public.

ThorneHealthTech is a science-driven health company that provides individuals with the support, education, and solutions necessary for healthy aging. Their AI platform, Onegevity, combines proprietary multi-omics platforms with artificial intelligence to offer actionable insights, enhanced information, and effective products to improve people's health.

Onegevity provides three types of services:

- Consumer Services: Personalized testing, personalized health insights, and connection to products and health plans, forming a closed-loop for consumer health management.

- Partner and Third-Party Channel Services: The Onegevity platform is designed as a multi-tenant capability service to support the company's testing and nutrition supplement channels, as well as third-party applications.

- Nutrition and Pharmaceutical Product Development Services: By combining AI models with multi-omics databases, the company has created a new platform for developing nutrition and pharmaceutical products that is faster and more efficient than traditional methods.

ThorneHealthTech's financial reports show that it is the only supplement manufacturer collaborating with the Mayo Clinic in health and wellness research and content, with over 5 million direct-to-consumer customers.

ThorneHealthTech has also established partnerships with several companies for its AI platform. In August last year, ThorneHealthTech expanded its collaboration with AstraZeneca, integrating Thorne's disease discovery platform into AstraZeneca for further evaluation and exploration of other uses for AstraZeneca molecules.

With this acquisition, LCatterton not only obtains ThorneHealthTech's AI platform but also indirectly gains numerous customer channels, achieving two objectives with one move.

Targeting the Chinese Consumer Market

It is well-known that this is not LCatterton's first investment in an AI company.

In 2019 and 2021, LCatterton, through its holdings in Israeli beauty brand IlMakiage, acquired AI-driven data science startup NeoWize and AI imaging technology company Voyage81, respectively.

The acquisition of AI companies by a beauty brand might initially seem unusual. However, with the development of DTC beauty brands and e-commerce businesses, there is a greater demand for big data applications.

For IlMakiage, NeoWize's significance lies in handling the vast amount of industry data collected by the brand. Voyage81, on the other hand, provides smartphones with hyperspectral imaging capabilities through its patented software. It can quickly extract hyperspectral information from RGB images taken by smartphones.

AI technology plays a supportive role in these acquisitions, but ultimately, the focus remains on the beauty industry. After all, AI is just a tool, and the investments are ultimately directed towards the beauty race.

LCatterton has shown love for AI technology, but the majority of its focus lies in the consumer goods field, given its title as the world's largest consumer private equity fund.

In recent years, LCatterton has increasingly targeted the Chinese consumer market, investing in companies such as Wanmei Holdings, HeyTea, and Yuanqi Forest.

In October last year, LCatterton also launched its first Renminbi fund, which exceeded expectations by raising ¥2 billion in its first closing and settling in Chengdu High-tech Zone.

LCatterton has also seized the opportunity in the medical aesthetics field, particularly in recombinant collagen.

In September this year, LCatterton led the Series B financing of Chuangjian Medical, an 8-year-old company that has obtained 27 patents in the field of recombinant collagen.

At present, LCatterton has nine investment platforms across five continents, including flagship acquisition funds, growth funds, Latin American funds, European funds, Asian funds, Renminbi funds, and real estate funds, with managed assets reaching $34 billion (approximately ¥250 billion).

Backed by the shade of the LVMH group, LCatterton's investment empire will continue to expand.

Overall, LCatterton's strategicacquisition of ThorneHealthTech demonstrates their focus on the intersection of AI and health technology. ThorneHealthTech's AI platform, Onegevity, provides personalized testing, health insights, and product development services, offering actionable information for individuals to improve their health. The acquisition allows LCatterton to not only gain access to the AI platform but also leverage ThorneHealthTech's customer channels and partnerships. This move aligns with LCatterton's previous investments in AI companies and their focus on the consumer goods sector. Additionally, LCatterton has been targeting the Chinese consumer market and has made investments in various industries, including beauty, consumer goods, and medical aesthetics. With their vast investment portfolio and continued expansion, LCatterton, backed by the LVMH group, remains a prominent player in the private equity space.