Alexia Inge (left) and Jessica Moore (right)
A former model and her business partner will pocket £76m after selling their beauty start-up Cult Beauty to The Hut Group (THG). Alexia Inge, 44, and Jessica Moore, 46, founded the online retailer in 2008 with £75,000 of savings, but will now sell the company for £275m.
Ahead of the sale Inge and her family owned a 18.7 per cent stake, while Moore (right), a former consultant for investment banks, and her family held 9.1pc, according to filings.
Other investors to benefit from the sale include Mark Quinn-Newall, 55, the cofounder of Net-a-Porter, who invested in 2011 and joined the board of directors. THG will take on their 200-plus independent make-up and skincare brands, which include Charlotte Tilbury, Molton Brown and Huda.
by Alistair Hardaker
North West ecommerce giant The Hut Group (THG) has agreed to acquire UK online beauty retailer Cult Beauty for £275m.
Launched in 2008, London-headquartered Cult Beauty is the authorised online retailer of around 300 brands across skincare, haircare and cosmetics, including Charlotte Tilbury, Drunk Elephant and Huda Beauty.
THG will acquire the ecommerce company from private shareholders including majority investor Mark Quinn-Newall (co-founder of Net-a-Porter) and co-CEO Alexia Inge.
Around two-thirds of its brands are not currently listed on existing THG Beauty sites, which The Hut Group said represents an opportunity to “broaden consumer choice”.
Cult Beauty will retain its identity within The Hut Group’s THG Beauty arm after the deal, which is hoped to boost Cult Beauty’s international reach via THG Ingenuity, the group’s tech-focussed platform.
THG snaps up online beauty products retailer in massive £275m deal
Cult Beauty is to retain a very clear identity due to its distinguished brand portfolio
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Top story
E-commerce giant The Hut Group has expanded its beauty portfolio with the £275m acquisition of online prestige retailer Cult Beauty.
The business is authorised to sell about 300 independent third-party brands across skincare, haircare and cosmetics, including Charlotte Tilbury, Drunk Elephant and Huda Beauty.
Close to 200 of the brands are new to THG’s beauty sites, helping broaden the direct-to-consumer specialist’s consumer reach. THG said Cult Beauty would retain “a very clear identity” within THG Beauty given its “distinguished brand portfolio”.
With less than 50% of revenues coming from overseas, THG added there was “a compelling opportunity” to accelerate Cult Beauty’s international growth through the group’s Ingenuity platform, which provides DTC tech for third parties.
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