L’Oréal acquires 10% stake in Galderma

L’Oréal acquires 10% stake in Swiss skincare company Galderma, to be acquired from Sunshine SwissCo AG, a consortium led by Swedish private equity firm EQT - Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd, in a deal that will close in the coming days.

Galderma was originally a joint venture between L’Oréal and Nestle, with L’Oréal selling its 50% stake in 2014.

Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal, said: "I am very happy to announce this strategic investment and collaboration with Galderma. This is an ambitious step for L'Oréal and in line with our slogan 'seize what is starting,', which allows us to explore collaborations in the fast-growing aesthetics market, a key adjacent area for our pure beauty business. We fully support Galderma's management and its strategy as a leading pure player in dermatology, respect its independence. And we are confident in its long-term growth potential."

With this acquisition, L'Oréal has for the first time acquired a stake in wrinkle-reducing injectable products such as neuromodulators and fillers such as Botox.

Recently, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for collaborative research and development.

Galderma said that L'Oréal will not serve on the board of Galderma because the two companies compete in the skin care field with L'Oréal's CeraVe and Galderma's Cetaphil brands.

The transaction will be implemented through an over-the-counter block transaction with a consortium led by EQT. L'Oréal and the consortium led by EQT have no intention of taking concerted action.