Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Conor C. | Delivered June 11, 2020

Skin Care and Beauty Niche Acquisitions

Goals

To obtain a list of companies acquired in the skincare/beauty niche in the past 10 years, for over $10M. Additionally, the acquired companies should primarily be e-commerce companies that were new as at the time of the acquisition, founded during the rise of social media (2010 onward). This information will be used to set goals for an eventual exit strategy.

Early Findings

BirchboxBirchbox is a New-York-based e-commerce company founded in 2010 that offers makeup, skin, and hair products, and a wide range of beauty-related collections. 
The company, which partners with both mainstream and niche up-and-comer brands in the beauty industry, including Kiehl’s, Benefit, and Stila, makes monthly deliveries of personalized samples to people based on their profiles and preferences.
Birchbox was acquired by Viking Global Investors
 on May 1, 2018, for $15M.
Other AcquisitionsDrunk Elephants, founded in 2012, which operates in skin, hair, and body care, consumer goods, and e-commerce segments was acquired by Shiseido on October 8, 2019, for $845M.
SummaryIn our preliminary research, due to the limitation of time, we were able to uncover the overview details and a summary for two primarily e-commerce companies in the skincare/beauty niche founded within the past 10 years (2010 and 2012) and acquired within the same period (2018 and 2019)for more than $10M ($15M and $845M).
We recommend moving ahead with our research to create a Google spreadsheet and populate it with a list of companies that meet the stated criteria.
Below is our recommended research paths.