French Supplement Brand Combeau Acquired by Oh My Cream
- Chaileedo Press
- May 11, 2023
- 3 min read
Juliette Lévy believes that the acquisition aligns with Oh My Cream's strategy of integrating supplements into its niche skincare product range.
French niche skincare retailer Oh My Cream has acquired Combeau, a supplements brand that combines natural ingredients with biotechnology formulations. This is Oh My Cream's first acquisition, and specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The acquisition will allow Oh My Cream to expand its retail network, which currently includes 26 stores across Europe and an e-commerce website, and accelerate the rollout of Combeau products.
Both companies have made significant contributions
Oh My Cream was founded by Juliette Lévy and is a multi-brand beauty concept/store that focuses on quality and purity labels. Since its launch in 2013, Oh My Cream's annual sales have grown between 50% to 100% year-on-year, but growth rates during the COVID-19 pandemic were around 30%. In 2016, Otium Capital provided a cash injection of $6.5 million for expansion. In 2019, Experienced Capital acquired a 41% stake in Oh My Cream.
The brand, which focuses on clean beauty (with 26 concept stores and an e-commerce website), is strengthening its product offerings by acquiring French food supplement brand Combeau.
Combeau was founded by Erika Fogeiro in 2019 and aims to create sustainable supplements by combining biotech-created formulations with natural ingredients. The brand is committed to ethical and transparent ingredient, packaging procurement, and communication. Combeau's first product, L'Essential Peau (Skin Essential), contains seven blended active ingredients designed to improve skin radiance, signs of aging, and blemishes. Combeau was launched on its own e-commerce platform and also launched at Selfridges and Oh My Cream.
“Most expert, innovative formula there is on the market.”
In an interview with WWD, Juliette Lévy stated that Combeau has "the most professional and innovative formulas" on the market.
"Our vision of beauty has evolved toward something more holistic," explained Juliette Lévy, "We strongly believe that supplements are super dynamic and important."
Juliette Lévy believes that the acquisition aligns with Oh My Cream's strategy of integrating supplements into its niche skincare line.
For Combeau, the deal will enable growth both inside and outside of Oh My Cream's retail network, which currently has 26 stores across Europe, including 12 in Paris, and an e-commerce website. Additionally, the acquisition will help Combeau accelerate its product launches.
Combeau’s first product, L’Essential Peau, or Skin Essential, includes seven active ingredients mixed to target skin radiance, signs of aging and imperfections. A one-month “cure” goes for 59 euros.
Expand its retail network
Oh My Cream's offline expansion has not been without challenges, as the retailer temporarily closed about 20 stores during the pandemic.
Despite facing challenges during the pandemic, Oh My Cream's offline business has been thriving since the pandemic. According to Lévy, there has been a significant increase in the number of customers going back to physical stores, and physical retail now accounts for approximately 65 percent of their business, compared to approximately 40 percent before the pandemic.
After nearly a decade of development in France, she felt her company was strong enough to expand overseas and opened two stores in London at the end of 2022. Earlier this year, it opened its first branch in Brussels.
The Oh My Cream team strongly believes that the future of the beauty industry will become more holistic, and therefore, by operating in this way, the brand's expertise, know-how and all innovation ecosystem is internalized, which will perfect the Oh My Cream brand's product offerings.
Oh My Cream plans to open more stores in Paris and the UK with a goal of opening 10 to 15 stores in London.
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