The French beauty conglomerate, L’Oreal will be buying Australian skincare group Aesop from its Brazilian owner Natura &Co. This has been the largest acquisition for the French company in decades.
Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal Groupe, said, “I am very excited to welcome Aesop and its teams to the L’Oréal Groupe family. Aesop is the epitome of avant-garde beauty, whose products are not only made with great care and exceptional attention to detail; they are a superb combination of urbanity, hedonism and undeniable luxury. Aesop taps into all of today’s ascending currents and L’Oréal will contribute to unleashing its massive growth potential, notably in China and travel retail.”
Michael O’Keefe, CEO of Aesop, added, “With the support of Natura &Co, over the past decade, we have built Aesop into an admirable global force in the luxury beauty space, with a powerful product proposition and a unique customer and retail experience. We now enter the next phase of our development. I am confident that with L’Oréal’s partnership, we will be able to bring our exceptional skincare products to even more people and continue to expand our brand globally. We thank Natura &Co for its support and are greatly looking forward to working with L’Oréal to continue our development, building on our distinctive brand and heritage
About Aesop
Aesop, the superlative skincare brand was founded by Dennis Paphitis, a Melbourne-based hairdresser in 1987. Aesop skincare is famous for its minimalist aesthetics — dark, apothecary-style bottles, wrapped in white and black labels. The brand offers premium quality skin, hair and body care products using botanical ingredients formulations. Additionally, the luxury brand also offers fragrances, candles and home décor. Their products are a cultural signifier of sophistication that we can find at posh restaurants, hotels and aspirational homes.
The stores reflect the refinement of the products and follow a minimalist aesthetic. They feature sinks where customers can test the products on their skin.
Aesop’s formulations are vegan and certified under the cruelty-free International Leaping Bunny programme. As a Certified B Corporation®, Aesop maintains high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
About Natura &Co
The Brazilian company, Natura &Co acquired Aesop in 2012. Under Natura &Co’s leadership, the brand expanded its global footprint from 52 to over 395 uniquely designed locations. Natura &Co is a global, multi-channel and multi-brand cosmetics group. It includes well-known brands Avon, Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop.