Kardashian West’s beauty brand valued at $1B in deal with Coty
Coty Inc. said it is buying a fifth of Kim Kardashian West’s makeup brand KKW for $200 million (U.S.), wagering that the reality star’s reach can boost the company’s direct-to-consumer beauty brands.
The fragrance-and-cosmetics company said Ms. Kardashian West, who has about 300 million followers across her personal and brand social-media channels, will continue to lead KKW’s creative efforts in product and communications, while Coty will develop the business’s skin care, hair care, personal care and nail-products portfolio.
The transaction values KKW, which Ms. Kardashian West founded in 2017, at $1 billion. The Financial Times first reported the deal.
The transaction follows Coty’s purchase of a 51per cent controlling stake in a cosmetics startup owned by Ms. Kardashian West’s half-sister, Kylie Jenner.
Coty said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Shares rose 10 per cent to $4.60 in early trading but are down 59 per cent so far this year.
The company earlier this month said private-equity firm KKR & Co. would take a 60 per cent stake in its professional and hair-care business in a transaction valued at $4.3 billion on a cash and debt-free basis. That gives the company a much-needed infusion of cash amid plunging sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic and persistent declines in beauty brands it acquired in 2016 from Procter & Gamble Co.
Ms. Kardashian West has also reached a deal with Spotify Technology SA for a criminal-justice podcast, exploring a topic that has come to the forefront of the national conversation amid widespread political unrest and activism following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police.