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French fragrance brand Matiere Premiere announced Tuesday that Kering Beauté, the luxury group’s beauty division, had taken a minority stake in the company following its second funding round in April.
Matiere Premiere hopes to use the capital injection to grow its team in Paris and expand its e-commerce and physical distribution internationally. The brand, which was founded in 2019, is currently available in 50 countries, and plans to open 20 standalone stores in France, Germany, the US, UK, the Middle East and China, Caius von Knorring, Matiere Premiere’s president, said in a statement.
The move comes at a time when Kering is eager to ramp up its beauty focus in an effort to compete with its rival LVMH. Last year, it paid $3.8 billion to acquire luxury fragrance label Creed and plans to develop beauty segments for Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen.
Matiere Premiere’s founders Von Knorring, Aurélien Guichard and Cédric Meiffret will maintain their position as majority shareholders.
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In a conference following its full-year earnings Thursday, Kering deputy chief executive Jean-Marc Duplaix laid out plans to further build out the group’s newly formed beauty division.
