Shiseido Unveils Strategy for Personal Care Business

In a press conference on Wednesday, the Japanese beauty behemoth announced that its personal care division, which has been sold to investment fund CVC Capital Partners, will focus on the Asian market, digital sales and work towards a potential IPO, NHK reports.

The sale, which is worth around 160 billion yen ($1.4 billion), was finalised on July 1 and a new venture, named Fine Today Shiseido, has been created to house the business, which will span categories from haircare to affordable skincare. Employees currently working in the personal care division will be hired by Fine Today Shiseido, which will also keep the group’s main brands, including Tsubaki and Senka, intact, said its president and CEO Komori Tetsuo; the group plans to stay involved in the new firm’s operations.

While personal care accounted for around 10 percent of Shiseido’s overall business, the move cements the group’s pivot towards premium beauty brands — it already owns Clé de Peau Beauté, Drunk Elephant and Nars. Over the first quarter of 2021, the group saw increased sales across its global markets and China in particular, where sales surged 41.1 percent year-on-year.