L’Occitane International S.A. has acquired a 40 percent stake in LimeLight by Alcone’s business in the US.

Founded in 2015 by the Alcone Company, LimeLight by Alcone offers natural skin care products and personalized color makeup palettes. It utilizes a unique distribution network with beauty guides and an online presence in the US.

Under the terms of the investment, in addition to the 40 percent stake, L’Occitane plans to invest a majority stake in a joint venture with LimeLight to develop the business model outside of the US. The investment is seen as “a good fit in terms of entrepreneurial spirit and management style, with LimeLight’s existing management team to remain in place,” according to a company statement.

The investment fits into L’Occitane’s strategy to build a leading portfolio of cosmetic brands based on natural ingredients, while also speeding up its expansion into the color category. It will also add further value to its ongoing omni-channel expansion strategy through the incorporation of LimeLight’s unique distribution and online sales business model whereby it employs Beauty Guides to sell products online. LimeLight will also make use of L’Occitane’s R&D capabilities and production facilities for its future products.

Reinold Geiger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Occitane, and Michele Gay, LimeLight’s co-founders and co-CEO, look forward to the partnership.

Michele said of the deal, “We applaud L’Occitane’s forward-thinking understanding that connecting with consumers in this new digital age is not just about programming another device application, but also building and training a sales force that can capture a vast social media following and then help that following discover personalized beauty solutions through out-of-store, one-on-one relationships.”