L'Oreal makes its first acquisition in India, eyes more (source :dna)

L’Oreal, the world’s largest beauty and cosmetic company, has acquired Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals, a Mumbai-based professional skincare brand, for an undisclosed amount.

Jean-Christophe Letellier (pictured), managing director, L’Oreal India, said the company is bullish on the Indian market and plans to grow the professional division of the company, which currently accounts for 20% of the turnover.

About 70% of the revenues comes from consumer products and 10% from luxury & active cosmetics, which includes brands such as Vichy,  Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren fragrances.

“We plan to go deeper into the market every year. And for this we will increase the number of salons by 5,000 every year.”

The acquisition would help Cheryls that has presence in close to 10,000 salons expand its network and L’Oreal broaden its product offerings in the skincare segment.

Letellier said the company is bullish on India and believes there are opportunities to grow other divisions (cosmetics and luxury) too, by taking the acquisition route.

“We are open for acquisitions as India is a key market, but nothing is concrete as of now.”

L’Oreal plans to more than quadruple its turnover to Rs 7,000 crore by 2020.

“The income levels are rising and so are the aspiration levels of the consumer.
And the evolution of retail will help India become one of the strongest markets in the coming years.”

Letellier also plans to drive growth by accelerating the presence in different channels. And next in line is revving up the growth of luxury and active cosmetics division.

The company is focusing on its mass brands such as Garnier to make sure that it is affordable to a larger number of people. It is also looking at exploring areas where Ayurveda can be mixed with modern technology that L’Oreal already has.
Source : dna india