Shiseido buys BARE!!!!
Sunday, January 17th, 2010In a major move that surprised the prestige beauty business, Shiseido made a tender offer to buy BARE for $1.7 billion or $18.20 per share. Shiseido and BARE combined would account for more than eight share of the prestige beauty category, according to Allan Mottus’ annual study of the industry. This propels Shiseido to third spot behind Estee Lauder Companies and L’Oreal in U.S. prestige.
Shareholders of BARE will receive a nice premium. Interestingly, Leslie Blodgett is exchanging some of her stock for a position in the company. She also amended her license agreement, according to the press release. It appears that both want to cement a partnership rather than an employer-employee relationship.
Shiseido has the R&D and distribution outside the U.S. that BARE needs to expand. In the U.S., BARE’s distribution via its own boutiques, Sephora and Ulta has pretty much run its course. In the U.S., BARE also is receiving competition in the mineral makeup segment from the likes of Maybelline, L’Oreal Paris, Neutrogena and assorted department store brands.
Shiseido is buying a good, freestanding store business at BARE. In the past, it unsuccessfully tried freestanding specialty stores with 5S and Aura Science. Editor Allan Mottus will write more extensively on this topic in the next issue of The Informationist.