While Coty continues to work on its acquisition of dozens of P&G brands, the company also has its eye on achieving results in the rapidly growing online sales space. While its deal with Avon, which would have provided access to a direct sales force, never materialized, now, for what can be an instant hold in this space, Coty has announced a partnership with the founders of Younique, a leader in online peer-to-peer social selling in beauty.
 
Under the proposed agreement, Coty intends to acquire 60% of Younique while the founders will own the remaining 40%. Younique’s brother-sister team—founder and current CEO, Derek Maxfield, and chief visionary officer, Melanie Huscroft—will continue to lead the business in the new partnership.
 
Younique was founded in 2012 in the U.S. “with a mission to uplift, empower and validate women across the globe.” The brand’s makeup and skin care products are sold through its disruptive peer-to-peer e-commerce platform. This platform enables Younique’s community of independent presenters to leverage social media in marketing and distributing Younique’s line of innovative beauty products directly to consumers.
 
Younique’s highly scalable technology platform is described as “built for mobile-first e-commerce and seamless global expansion,” with approximately 200,000 active presenters and over 4.1 million consumers in 10 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, France, Spain and Hong Kong. Younique expects to generate approximately $400 million in net revenues in 2016.
 
Together, Younique and Coty expect to accelerate the product offering and geographical expansion of Younique.
 
Coty will acquire a 60% stake of Younique for approximately $600 million in cash which will be funded through a combination of cash on hand and available debt facilities with marginal impact on Coty’s leverage ratio. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during Coty’s 2017 fiscal third quarter. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Coty’s top-line growth, EBITDA margin and FY17 earnings.
 
Younique will operate as a separate business within Coty’s Consumer Beauty division. The purchase values the 4-year-old startup at $1 billion. According to industry reports, Younique makeup and skin care products are marketed to more than 4 million consumers by way of about 200,000 “presenters.”