Mumbai: French beauty giant L’Oreal is buying a majority stake in homegrown personal care firm Innovist which owns digital first brands such as Bare Anatomy and Chemist at Play, the company said on Thursday.This will be L’Oreal’s first acquisition in India in nearly 13 years since its purchase of Mumbai-based Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals in Sept 2013 as it looks to step up its growth in the country. The firm did not disclose the specifics of the transaction but said that it has secured the rights to buy out the minority shareholders of Innovist in full.The move comes as L’Oreal looks to gain market share in the local beauty space besides building a portfolio that can resonate with young shoppers who are increasingly moving beyond big labels and experimenting with digital-first brands catering to untapped needs of consumers.India’s beauty and personal care (BPC) market has seen an influx of new-age brands, intensifying competition in the market and nudging legacy players such as L’Oreal and Lakme to innovate for Gen Zs and millennials. “Our investment in this innovative Indian startup is a clear testament to our unwavering commitment to expanding L’Oreal’s footprint in India,” said Nicloas Hieronimus, CEO at L’Oreal.India has not been meeting L’Oreal’s expectations and the firm has not been able to gain a lot of market share despite seeing high single-digit growth, pushing the company to revise its strategic plan for the market, Hieronimus had said earlier this year in an earnings call. Last year, the company appointed Jacques Lebel as the new country manager for India, replacing Aseem Kaushik who moved to the role of chairman.Post the closure of the deal, Innovist’s brands will be housed under L’Oreal’s consumer products division portfolio. The seven-year old startup’s founding team led by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana and Vimal Bhola will remain in place as minority shareholders. L’Oreal has made minority investments in local new-age brands Arata, Deconstruct and Chosen through its venture capital arm Bold.
