The move comes as commentators have been predicting the rise in local level beauty production, with supply chains predicted to shrink with the rise of facilities like digital printing, and following the ever-growing dominance of the customisation trend.
The acquisition of the Italian manufacturer was supported with funding from H.I.G. WhiteHorse, a credit affiliate of global investment firm H.G.I Captial. Capvis is a leading private equity firm in Switzerland, specialising in German-speaking Europe and and selectively in northern Italy.
The deal involves a €65 million unitranche facility arranged by Credit Suisse.
Local supply chains: future direction
Speaking at a recent in-cosmetics industry event, Antoinette van der Berg, founder of trend-forecasting agency Future-Touch, put forward her prediction for the rise in local supply chain models.
“Digital printing will facilitate customisation; consumers will be able to specify every element of their product: shape, size, colour, etc. It will all be very local.”
The market analyst explained that such a model, based on a dramatically streamlined supply chain, would reduce waste considerably, thus tapping into the rising consumer demand for sustainability and environmentally-conscious beauty production.
It will also reduce dramatically the function of B2B business within the industry, according to Van den Berg, due to the emphasis on the local consumer’s wishes.
Production solutions
Gotha Cosmetics was founded in 2005 and reportedly considers itself ‘a global point of reference’ in colour cosmetics innovation, offering research and production services for makeup formulations.
“As a one-stop-shop partner for the global cosmetics industry ranging from prestige, masstige to mass market brands, Gotha researches and creates new colouring cosmetics formulae, manufactures bulk products, industrializes new products and offers add-on filling and packaging solutions,” a press release on the recent acquisition states.
Appu Mundassery, Managing Director at H.I.G. WhiteHorse, said of the acquisition: “We are delighted to assist Capvis by providing a tailor-made financing solution for the acquisition of Gotha Cosmetics. [...] We continue to regard Italy as a key market and see more opportunities in the near future”.