A decade after it acquired Kate Somerville, Unilever has sold the brand born in a West Hollywood skincare clinic to Boston-based Rare Beauty Brands as the conglomerate disposes of underperforming assets either through transactions or closures.
Terms of the deal slated to close this year weren’t released, but it represents a growing number of deals done by smaller brand holding companies opportunistically snapping up conglomerates’ divestments. At 11-year-old Rare Beauty Brands, Kate Somerville joins a portfolio that includes skincare brand Patchology and nail care brand Dr. Dana. The company is looking to further increase its stable of brands.
“Kate Somerville is a widely loved, prestige skincare brand built from the unique heritage of the med-spa clinic in West Hollywood, CA, which we also acquired,” says Chris Hobson, president and CEO of Rare Beauty Brands, in an email to Beauty Independent. “The clinic has a long history of providing high-performance, rapid-results skincare treatments for Hollywood’s most famous faces, and the retail product line reflects this incredible standard of clinical efficacy. This made it a perfect fit for Rare Beauty Brands as each of our brands stems from science and efficacy first.”
He continues, “We think there is so much upside, building on the clinic positioning, adding new hero products to the portfolio and executing with excellence at key retailers…This acquisition will almost double RBB’s scale and greatly expand our margins and profitability. Our immediate focus is on integrating the teams and customers and executing on the growth strategy.”
In a statement, Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson, CEO of Unilever Prestige, says, “Over the past 18 months, the team has worked diligently to accelerate Kate Somerville’s turnaround. As the brand enters a new chapter, we believe that its continued growth and success will be best supported by new ownership better aligned to its evolving needs. We are confident that under Chris Hobson’s leadership and the Rare Beauty Brands team, Kate Somerville has a bright future ahead.”
Kate Somerville’s employees are largely joining Rare Beauty Brands, according to Hobson. The brand has 31 main products, and among its bestsellers are EradiKate, ExfoliKate, HydraKate, DeliKate, +Retinol Vitamin C Moisturizer and KateCeuticals. Kate Somerville’s individual products generally are priced from about $17 to $150. The brand is available at Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Nordstrom, Space NK, Mecca and Amazon.
“Rare Beauty Brands currently works with the vast majority of these customers, enabling us to deepen these relationships and drive success for our brands,” says Hobson. Asked about Kate Somerville’s core customers, he elaborates, “The core consumer is the wealthy suburban mom who seeks the best from her skincare treatments, but, over the past few years, TikTok and the younger consumer has gone crazy for the brand’s ExfoliKate and EradiKate products given their deep technical foundation and proven efficacy.”
“We think there is so much upside, building on the clinic positioning, adding new hero products to the portfolio and executing with excellence at key retailers.”
Marketing Solutions Group owner Sheree Wiener, who was VP of product development, research and development and marketing at Kate Somerville from 2019 to 2021, says the brand has suffered from a revolving door of CEOs and CMOs and a lack of infrastructure to properly support its business. Still, she suggests its credibility from products with excellent ingredients at effective levels and clinical studies to back up its claims hasn’t evaporated.
To recharge Kate Somerville, Wiener says, “I recommend concise messaging, downsized product assortment and some new launches and sizzle. Investment in marketing, social media and product development is essential, and Kate Somerville products can be potent, so consumer education is also key for the best results.”
Aesthetician Kate Somerville founded her namesake brand in 2004, and when Unilever acquired it in 2015, it picked up Ren, Dermalogica and Murad in the same year to anchor Unilever Prestige, a beauty division it started a year earlier. In August last year, Sky News reported that Unilever hired PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance to explore options for Kate Somerville, and the company initiated similar processes for Ren and Garancia. Estimates in Women’s Wear Daily pegged Kate Somerville, Ren and Garancia at under $50 million in annual sales. In May, Unilever announced it was shuttering Ren.
The divergent fates of Kate Somerville and Ren are illustrative of broader market trends, with clinical, science-driven skincare gaining momentum over clean skincare. Still, as Rare Beauty Brands attempts to reenergize Kate Somerville, it faces pressure from younger results-oriented competitors like OneSkin, Eighth Day, Sofie Pavitt, Sweet Chemistry and Medik8, the brand acquired by L’Oréal in June.
Under CEO Hein Schumacher, Unilever is concentrating on around 30 so-called power brands that contribute roughly 70% of its sales. In 2023, the company sold Dollar Shave Club to Nexus Capital Management, and Elida Beauty, a collection of brands such as Q-Tips, Caress and TIGI, and the North American rights to Suave to Yellow Wood Partners. As it’s spitting out brands, Unilever is swallowing them as well and has acquired Wild and Dr. Squatch this year.
Unilever is part of a nearly universal brand purge by big beauty conglomerates. In March, L’Oréal sold Carol’s Daughter to founder Lisa Price and Joe Wong, a financial industry veteran who’s acquired former L’Oréal brands Baxter of California, Ambi Skincare, AcneFree and Dermablend. Estée Lauder, Kenvue and Coty are exploring brand sales, too.
At Rare Beauty Brands, Hobson says, “We sense that there are many more brands inside big strategics and private equity portfolios that could benefit from a new, more entrepreneurial environment. As M&A picks up in 2026 and beyond, we expect RBB to be active in uncovering and acquiring hidden gems like Kate Somerville and then helping them fulfill their potential.”
Click here to learn more about Dealmaker Summit happening June 8 & 9 in New York.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.