Quadrivio Group Acquires Majority Stake In Fast-Growing Textured Haircare Brand Les Secrets de Loly

Italian private equity firm Quadrivio Group has acquired a majority stake in Les Secrets de Loly, France’s No. 1 textured haircare brand and a bestseller at Sephora in the country.

The enterprise value of the deal is in the range of 160 million to 180 million euros or roughly $185 million to $210 million at the current exchange rate, according to Quadrivio. Weinberg Capital Partners, which has Cosmogen and Juliette Has a Gun in its portfolio, and Three Hills Capital Partners, a former backer of Davines, participated in the transaction as minority investors. Philippe Franchet, who heads the consumer brands and lifestyle fund at Quadrivio Group, where he’s managing partner, tells Beauty Independent Les Secrets de Loly is closing in on 100 million or around $116 million in retail sales and has grown at a rate of 40% per annum for the last three years.

In a statement, Franchet says, “Les Secrets de Loly shows all the attributes of a highly attractive brand: leadership within its niche, strong organic growth, profitability and a committed management team. We’ll be supporting this business during its European expansion and in value creation throughout this new cycle.”

Alessandro Binello, group CEO at Quadrivio, adds, “We’re excited to be part of the Les Secrets de Loly world. The company’s growth over recent years stands as just the first step in a much longer development journey, one that we will be guiding thanks also to Quadrivio Group’s consolidated experience in the beauty-care sector, which is of significant strategic importance for us. We firmly believe in the brand’s potential—it is currently Sephora’s haircare bestseller—and we intend to invest further in its positioning while accelerating its international rollout across Europe and beyond.”

The deal lands amid heightened investor interest in haircare. On Monday, Henkel announced it has agreed to acquire Not Your Mother’s in a deal estimated to be worth $927 million. The acquisition is likely to give Quadrivio confidence it can ultimately find a buyer for Les Secrets de Loly. The firm follows a typical private equity holding period of about four to six years.

Quadrivio’s majority stake deal for Les Secrets de Loly is expected to usher in geographic expansion for the brand to Italy, Germany and Middle Eastern territories and help it realize a goal of hitting 100 million euros or $116 million in turnover, the enlargement of its assortment from 27 stockkeeping units to 40, the extension into the men’s segment and an amplification of its marketing. Les Secrets de Loly founder Kelly Massol is staying on as chair, and the management team led by CEO Carlota Thévenot, CFO Guillaume Wirth and CMO Cory Samson will remain.

Prior to Quadrivio, Luxembourg-based Quilvest Capital Partners took a minority stake in Les Secrets de Loly in 2022, marking the brand’s first institutional investment. Massol, who formerly held marketing and communications roles, started Les Secrets de Loly in 2009 with 1,500 euros or about $1,740 with products specifically for wavy and curly hair formulated with natural ingredients. According to Franchet, 60% of the European market has textured hair.

“Les Secrets de Loly shows all the attributes of a highly attractive brand: leadership within its niche, strong organic growth, profitability and a committed management team.”

Les Secrets de Loly’s hero product is Boost Curly, and Kurl Nectar is another strong seller. Women’s Wear Daily reports the brand sold 1 million units of Boost Curly in 2024, and one Les Secrets de Loly product sells every seven seconds. Prices run from 14 euros to 36 euros or around $16 to $42. Along with Sephora, Les Secrets de Loly sells through its own website, Amazon and select pharmacies and specialty retailers. The brand launched in Spain last year.

Franchet says, “The combination of the multichannel approach, the right product and a need being expressed for [textured-haired] women made it a big success.”

Quadrivio has funds in four areas: industrial, consumer brands and lifestyle, longevity and artificial intelligence. It’s executed 80 transactions in 25 years and has had 21 exits, zero write-offs and a gross internal rate of return of 25%. In 2024, it realized a 4X return on its investment through the sale of sneaker brand Autry to Style Capital. Quadrivio manages between 2 billion and 2.5 billion euros or roughly $2.3 billion to $2.9 billion in assets.

Les Secrets de Loly marks the fifth acquisition for Quadrivio’s second consumer brands and lifestyle fund focusing on beauty, fashion and design. Other assets in its portfolio include Twinset, Sessùn and Filippo De Laurentiis. Quadrivio is currently fundraising with a target of 500 million euros or roughly $581 million and is expected to close on the fundraise before this summer.

Quadrivio isn’t finished investing in beauty and is in talks with another haircare company. It’s also actively scouting investments in the clean beauty, niche fragrance and natural supplement categories. Franchet says the firm is seeking companies selling differentiated products with an engaged management team and presence in international markets. He emphasizes it’s important that deals have “the right economics” and that brands are showing growth, usually at a double-digit clip.