KYT Group, the investment and advisory firm formed by former The Honest Co. executive Kurt Kober and ex-CAA head of business development Michael Yanover, has made its first brand acquisition, Glo Skin Beauty.
The deal, structured with KYT alongside two unnamed institutional backers, positions KYT as an operator-first buyer that intends to build upon Glo Skin’s roots in the professional market, amplify its marketing and rationalize its assortment at a moment when brands rooted in science and authority are gaining steam in beauty. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Glo Skin was reported by the publication The Industry Beauty last year to have crossed $30 million in annual sales. Kober, who was president of the emerging business unit and VP of commercial strategy and planning at Honest and an e-commerce director at Clorox, has been appointed CEO.
“There’s a lot of stuff on the market right now that’s very marketing-driven, and what we liked about Glo is they had a really good product that didn’t have enough marketing,” Yanover says. Kober says, “We’re seeing that highly efficacious, science-based products are going to be the winners, and that’s what Glo had. Glo’s product is second to none. The reviews and testimonials from customers are just insanely good, and it’s all American-made, which is exciting to us.” He elaborates, “It’s a real business that has been around for over 25 years and has loyal partners and customers. It was the business fundamentals that partially attracted us.”
Founded more than 25 years ago by a plastic surgeon and previously owned by private equity firms Swander Pace Capital and North Castle Partners, Glo Skin, previously known as Glo Minerals, has hundreds of skincare and color cosmetics stockkeeping units, including C-Shield Anti-Pollution Moisture Tint SPF 30, Bio-Renew EGF Serum, C-Shield Anti-Pollution Drops Serum, Hydra-Bright Pro 5 Liquid Exfoliant and Conditioning Lip Gloss. Hero products typically retail in the $50 range, with premium EGF products priced above $100.
The brand has a presence at approximately 5,000 spas, salons and independent aestheticians in the United States. Outside the U.S., it has five to eight core international distribution partners spanning Asia, Europe and South America, and is distributed in 19 countries. Roughly half of sales are from professional distribution, with the remainder split between direct-to-consumer and Amazon. About 10% of revenue stems from back-bar spa services. The company has a 55-person team based in Denver that KYT is retaining.
Beyond business fundamentals and formula efficacy, Glo Skin’s draw for KYT lay in its product durability and positive consumer reception. Kober divulges that the brand has a net promoter score of 66%, a level of customer advocacy uncommon in the crowded skincare market, and average product ratings hovering around 4.8 stars. Rather than embark on broad, splashy campaigns or immediately explode distribution, KYT is pursuing what Kober describes as a “surgical” expansion strategy, targeting high-credibility med-spas, multi-location salon and spa partners and digitally reachable consumers who fit its core demographic profile. Glo Skin is preparing to launch a new EGF cream later this month, a product KYT believes speaks to the brand’s clinical skincare strength.
“What we liked about Glo is they had a really good product that didn’t have enough marketing.”
The acquisition is in line with an investment thesis Kober and Yanover developed when forming KYT Group about a year ago. The thesis is centered around the growth potential of brands serving what Kober describes as a “fearlessly visible woman,” a consumer typically between 35 and 55 who is highly accomplished, professionally and personally engaged and, in KYT’s view, underserved by much of today’s beauty market.
“There are not a lot of great brands at her side today, skincare being the tip of the spear,” says Kober. “We think there’s opportunity as you look across the needs of this consumer, and we’re going to explore that as part of what the Glo brand already represents.”
Glo Skin marks KYT’s first acquisition, but it’s unlikely to be its last. The firm continues to evaluate deals, particularly for brands with established product-market fit and professional credibility. Yanover suggests smaller assets such as brands under $10 million in revenue could either be standalone investments or be folded into Glo. KYT is vetting deals throughout the beauty universe in different categories and distribution channels. Yanover says, “We’re focused on the thesis more than anything, and how we can add value.”
Dissimilar from private equity firms with defined exit horizons, Yanover and Kober characterize KYT as a patient capital play. Yanover says, “There’s no crushing pressure to have an exit in three years or five years or two years. It’s build a great business. That’s our only pressure.” Kober says, “There’s mechanisms that can provide capital to investors over time that are certainly part of these transactions. But at the end of the day, there’s a long-term belief in the quality of these businesses and what they can be over time.”
“We’re focused on the thesis more than anything, and how we can add value.”
Before starting KYT with Kober, Yanover spent more than two decades at CAA incubating and launching celebrity-connected consumer ventures. Among the beauty-related businesses he helped bring to market were Haus Labs with Lady Gaga, OAM Skin with Ciara and Pley Beauty with Peyton List. That experience informed KYT’s approach to acquisitions.
“Fashion is fickle, younger people are fickle. I really like the idea that Kurt and I have focused on a more mature woman. I really like the idea we focused on science. I really like the idea that right now this is not a celebrity-led thing,” he explains. “I really don’t want to spend my time chasing fashion right now. Of course, there’s always a little bit of fashion in everything, but the idea of beauty as fashion is not where we’re going right now. We’re going with highly efficacious stuff and product first. And if celebrity becomes part of this, great, but it’s going to be on product-centric terms.”
Although KYT isn’t concentrating solely on the professional beauty channel for acquisitions, its deal for Glo Skin comes as the channel has seen deal activity. So far this year, for example, Newmedical Technology has acquired Derma Made and RoundTable Healthcare Partners purchased Colorescience.
“That’s only going to continue forward,” says Yanover. “The consumer has been overwhelmed by marketing, and now it’s time to really show the goods, and I think the ones that have the goods, and Glo is one of them, are going to succeed, and there’ll be more M&A action in that space.”
