The Hut Group has expanded yet again with the acquisition of Illamasqua to its fast-growing beauty empire, less than three months after it started a takeover spree.
The online retailer purchased Illamasqua, which is co-owned by Julian Kynaston and Agent Provocateur founder Joseph Corre, for an estimated £25 million.
The acquisition is part of The Hut Group‘s plans to splash out around £400 million this year for various technology projects and beauty brands, compared to last year‘s £250 million investment budget.
In August, the company snapped up cosmetics subscription business Glossybox and just a week later it bought major Australian beauty retailer RY.
Last month, it took over luxury skincare brand Espa in a deal rumoured to be £100 million.
Founded in 2008, Illamasqua has stores in Leeds, Liverpool and London, and is sold online via its own website and via The Hut Group‘s lookfantastic.com. The brand is also stocked in Selfridges and 15 Debenhams stores.
The Hut Group’s founder and chief executive Matthew Moulding said: “In Illamasqua‘s unwavering commitment to professional, high-quality products and creativity, not to mention its strong identity, we saw a business with a unique proposition and an opportunity to take a strong and dynamic brand to the next level.
“We are confident that, with our world-class e-commerce platform and large marketing infrastructure, we will deliver significant growth and further extend Illamasqua‘s global customer base.
”This investment is another step in our ambition of becoming the world‘s largest online retailer of health and beauty products by 2018.”
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