After more than a year of speculation, in the end, Shiseido Co. emerged as the victor in nabbing Drunk Elephant, a trailblazing brand in the booming “clean beauty” segment.
The amount paid for the company which generated about $100 million in sales for 2018 was $845 million—less than the $1 billion that had been bantered around, but more than eight times sales.
It was well known that Drunk Elephant was on the market, the bigger question was who would win the brand, which is estimated to generate more than $130 million in sales this year.
Those familiar with the transaction said Shiseido beat out The Estée Lauder Companies, which was said to be eyeing the brand as far back as 2016. Prior to its buy of Tatcha, Unilever was also mentioned as a suitor for Drunk Elephant. Colgate and L’Oréal were rumored to be interested. Although the price was less than $1 billion, the deal was the second largest in beauty this year, just behind L’Occitane’s $900 million purchase of Elemis.
There’s no debate that Shiseido is getting a jewel of a brand that fits snugly within its goal of attracting younger users and building out its portfolio—especially in the expanding global clean beauty skin care business.
According to clean beauty brand Tula’s CEO, Savannah Sachs, the acquisition is “indicative of a fundamental shift where consumers want clean, safe ingredients but are also not willing to sacrifice results – so it’s not about natural anymore, it’s about clean and effective.”
Parlaying Japan’s largest beauty brand’s expertise into other markets has been high on the to do list of Shiseido’s President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Masahiko Uotani. Building skin care is particularly on the front burner for Shiseido, which has a strong makeup roster in the U.S. that includes its eponymous logo, Nars, Laura Mercier and Cle de Peau Beauté. In a release, Shiseido said Drunk Elephant will be able to leverage the company’s global platform and expand into new and existing markets both in the Americas and internationally. That includes access to Shiseido’s Global Innovation Center and Digital Center of Excellence.
“This transaction is squarely aligned with Shiseido’s Vision 2020 goal of accelerating growth and creating value through strategic partnerships,” said Masahiko in a press release. “Drunk Elephant’s approach strongly resonates with its highly engaged and loyal consumers, who value the integrity and effectiveness of Drunk Elephant’s formulations combined with a fun, curious approach.”
Marc Rey, Chief Executive Officer of Shiseido Americas and Chief Growth Officer of Shiseido, added Drunk Elephant gives the company greater entry into clean beauty, a segment the company has been keen to expand. “This new and incredibly exciting partnership builds on Shiseido’s significant momentum and successful track record of acquiring distinctive, best-in-class brands. Drunk Elephant is changing the way people understand and experience beauty by offering products that are effective and clean compatible.”
Drunk Elephant has attracted a younger consumer base and is often listed as among the top sellers at Sephora, which exclusively sells the brand in the U.S. The retailer once called Drunk Elephant one of the fastest-growing brands in its history. Drunk Elephant is also sold at Space NK in the U.K., Cult Beauty and Mecca Cosmetics in Australia. Recently Drunk Elephant expanded into Hong Kong and mainland China through Tmall’s cross-border platform (which eliminates the need for animal-testing).
Tiffany Masterson founded Drunk Elephant in 2012, and like many modern-day founders, she didn’t start out as an entrepreneur but sought products for her own skin issues. The once stay-at-home mom’s research led her to uncover what she dubs the “suspicious six,” ingredients she wanted to avoid that were in many products. To that end, her line avoids essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, chemical sunscreens and fragrances, dyes and sodium lauryl sulfates.
“I started this business as an industry outsider, and from the beginning I did things a little differently,” Tiffany stated when the deal was announced. “To join with a powerhouse beauty company such as Shiseido that leads the industry in innovation and global excellence is a dream come true for me and for Drunk Elephant. We share similar values, most importantly an unwavering commitment to the consumer. I chose a partner who will let the brand continue to be itself, with the same formulations and the same team.”
In an Instagram post, Tiffany, who will take on the role of President and Chief Creative Officer, said she partnered with Shiseido for myriad reasons, including her confidence they won’t change formulations—a common concern when a multinational buys an indie brand. “If it wasn’t announced, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” she assured her 748K followers. Tiffany also vowed prices won’t increase.
She added that Shiseido will facilitate several goals, including attaining sustainability across the board (the company started developing options earlier this year) and getting to markets where there has been demand. Tiffany also sees an avenue to take the brand’s anti bullying campaign to the next level. Tiffany will report to Marc, who adds she’ll continue to drive new product innovations.
The Drunk Elephant teams will remain based in Newport Beach, CA and Houston.