Kylie Jenner has an enviable social media following. (Photo by Toni Anne Barson/WireImage)
Beauty house Coty has introduced Kylie Jenner’s skincare line Kylie Skin into Europe, debuting today at specialist beauty retailer Douglas Group. The Germany-based company has about 2,400 stores in 26 European countries.
New York-based Coty says that Kylie Skin—which launched in May 2019—will roll out in full distribution through Douglas doors in all markets. Jenner has more than 250 million followers across her personal and brand social media channels. She is an influential voice in the beauty and fashion spheres across the globe.
The entrepreneur—who was featured as the youngest-ever self-made billionaire on the cover of Forbes in August 2018—says: “The creation of my skincare line was an incredible process for me, from designing the packaging to developing the formulas. Many of my fans have been asking me to make my skincare available in Europe.”
Ensuring that happened was just as much of a goal for Coty, which announced its acquisition of Kylie Cosmetics last year in a pricey $600 million deal for a 51% stake in the celebrity’s business. The transaction closed in January 2020. The European entry is part of a strategy to take Kylie Cosmetics global—into physical stores as well as online, where the brand has had great success.
Global push for Kylie Cosmetics
Simona Cattaneo, president of Coty’s luxury brands division—which includes beauty licences for high-end names such as Calvin Klein, Gucci and Marc Jacobs—says: “We have started to build a strong foundation to support our strategic partnership. The launch of Kylie Skin in Europe is a next step as we build Kylie Jenner’s beauty businesses into a global powerhouse brand.”
Douglas has a large beauty retail footprint across Europe (Photo by Schöning/ullstein bild via Getty ... [+]
Douglas will offer six products from the Kylie Skin line, including a face wash, face scrub, face moisturizer, eye cream, toner and vitamin C serum. The retailer had annual sales of 3.5 billion euros in the year to September 2019.
Coty’s sales slipped 8% to $8.6 billion in its last financial year ended June 2019, from $9.4 billion a year earlier. The company is undergoing a turnaround plan which has been accelerated this year as sales declined further due to the global impact of Covid-19.
Earlier this month, the beauty house agreed a deal with global investment firm KKR for the issuance of $750 million in convertible preferred shares, improving Coty’s cash flow and helping to deleverage its balance sheet.
Simultaneously, Coty and KKR signed a memorandum of understanding for the sale of a majority in Coty’s professional beauty and retail hair businesses including the Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands—all under the Wella unbrella—at a contemplated enterprise value of $4.3 billion. Under the terms of the MOU, Coty will carve out Wella into a standalone company in which KKR will acquire a 60% stake and Coty will retain 40%.
