Hut Group to acquire online skin care retailer Dermstore for $350m

British e-commerce company The Hut Group (THG) has signed an all-cash deal worth $350 million to acquire online skin care retailer Dermstore from Target Corp.

Dermstore is a pure-play online retailer of prestige skincare and specialty beauty brands.

Hut Group said that the acquisition of Dermstore enhances its four pillars of beauty strategy by significantly boosting its relationships with major global beauty brands.

Furthermore, the British e-commerce company said that it can ramp up the scale of its beauty box business by accessing the customer base of Dermstore.com, which in turn will unlock incremental marketing revenue.

The transaction also gives the scope to fast track the growth of its beauty brands through a new and large US customer base, said Hut Group.

The Hut Group to acquire online skin care retailer Dermstore for $350m. Photo courtesy of 50Stripes/Wikipedia.org.

Matthew Moulding – Chairman and CEO of Hut Group said: “A key driver behind the decision to list THG on the London Stock Exchange just over three months ago was to enable the Group to make major global investments, such as Dermstore.com.

“Accessing capital through a London listing has enabled us to accelerate our growth plans and build out a global leadership position within the exciting beauty industry. We are delighted to welcome Dermstore.com into our growing portfolio of online beauty assets.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approval in the US.

The Hut Group has also acquired a couple of its long-standing nutrition product suppliers in the UK – Claremont Ingredients and David Berryman (Berryman’s) for a combined total of £59.5 million ($81.35 million) in cash.

Matthew Moulding said: “These two businesses are highly complementary, with Berryman’s accelerating our capabilities in drinks range development for the individual brands within THG Nutrition. Claremont will play a key role in developing flavours tailored to local tastes across the globe.

“Together these acquisitions will enable THG to significantly accelerate the launch of further product innovation to global markets, while increasing the proportion of THG Nutrition products wholly manufactured in-house.”