이 기사는 2021년 05월 18일 07:47 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean private equity (PE) firm VIG Partners acquired a 100% stake in The Skin Factory, which operates its flagship beauty brand Kundal, for more than 150 billion won ($132 million), industry sources said on Friday.

Kundal started as the hair care products maker six years ago. The brand has grown exponentially since its establishment as it has provided high quality products at reasonable prices, mainly through online sales channels.

VIG Partners has made the latest investment to capitalize on Kundal’s growth potential at home and abroad. The beauty brand has launched new products over the last two years, including body care products, masks, toothpaste, and derma care products. Although hair and body care products still account for 60-70% of its total sales, sales of new products are growing at a rapid pace.

VIG Partners plans to develop a variety of product lines and increase its enterprise value to turn the company into a personal care manufacturer like Yuhan-Kimberly or Unilever.

The firm generated 95% of its domestic gross merchandise value (around 80 billion won) through online sales channels in 2020. It is expected to continue the sales strategy after the acquisition.

VIG Partners plans to actively reach out to customers in seven Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Kundal generated around 10 billion won in sales there since early 2020 via Dairy Farm offline stores in the seven Southeast Asian countries and ecommerce apps like Shopee and Lazada.

The PE firm named Roh Hyun-jun, senior director of overseas and export business at Yuhan-Kimberly, as the portfolio company’s new chief executive officer.

Kundal recorded sales of 120 billion won, an operating profit of 33.4 billion won and a net profit of 29.7 billion won in 2020, up from 31.8 billion won, 7.6 billion won and 6.7 billion won, respectively, year-on-year. (Reporting by Hee-yeon Han)