In February 2026, Marico announced the acquisition of a 75% stake in Skinetiq – the Vietnamese D2C company behind skincare brand Candid – at a valuation of approximately $40 million, its second Vietnamese beauty deal in three years. The acquisition is worth examining not for what it tells us about Marico’s ambitions, which are now…
The acquisition gives Ruoyuchen full control of a heritage prestige skincare brand as Chinese beauty groups continue to use overseas deals to move further into premium skincare.
The partnership extends corporate support for early-stage beauty and wellness companies in Seoul, with commercialisation, overseas expansion and possible investment built into the programme.
The refiling puts one of China’s largest domestic skincare groups back into the Hong Kong listing pipeline with a business still heavily concentrated around its flagship brand.
Brightening skincare is the most commercially significant category in Southeast Asia – and it is fracturing. What was once a single segment defined by the aspiration for lighter, more even skin tone is dividing into two distinct product logics with different consumers, different price points, and different evidence requirements. Vietnamese beauty brands are naturally positioned…
The February increase points to stronger momentum in Hong Kong beauty retail as visitor arrivals and broader consumer spending continue to recover.
The shift marks a major change in K-beauty’s export map as growth in the U.S. offsets a prolonged decline in shipments to China.
The closure adds to the retreat of legacy K-beauty brands in China as weaker channel performance and tougher local competition continue to pressure older market-entry models.
A potential combination would deepen Estée Lauder’s fragrance exposure as the group looks to rebalance under pressure in prestige beauty and China.
Japan beauty exports peaked at 683.9 billion yen in 2021 and fell to 422.9 billion yen by 2024 – a 38% decline in three years, while South Korea hit a record $11.4 billion and France grew 6.3% over the same period. The collapse is real and documented. What it means, however, depends on which Japanese…