Shiseido Group announced that it has entered into an equity transfer agreement with CVC Capital Partners (CVC), a private equity fund, to sell its entire stake in FineToday Holdings Co., Ltd. (Fine Today), a personal care company owned by it, (20.09%), which is scheduled to close on June 30, 2024, for an undisclosed price.
● Shiseido announcements
In addition, according to the "Announcement on the Change of Production Enterprises and Other Related Contents" issued by the person in charge of Fine Today (Shanghai Fittensi Cosmetics Business Co., Ltd.), from June 2024, the back labels of 47 products under Fine Today will be changed one after another to the manufacturer, filing person and other related content, and the production/filing company will be changed from Shiseido Co., Ltd. to Fine Today Industries Co., Ltd. (Fittingsi Co., Ltd.).
● Fine Today公告
这意味着,资生堂集团正式完全剥离其个人护理业务,包括水之密语(AQUAIR)、可悠然(KUYURA)、惠润(SUPER MILD)、珊珂(SENKA)、芬浓(fino)、丝蓓绮(TSUBAKI)、吾诺(UNO)、玛馨妮(MA CHERIE)等十大个护品牌。
01
Fine Today拟于东京证券交易所上市
On February 3, 2021, Shiseido issued the Notice on Matters Concerning the Separation of Companies Involved in the Transfer of Personal Care Business (Simple Absorption Separation) and began to gradually divest its global personal care business.
In terms of the specific transfer process, Shiseido and Shiseido's related subsidiaries first inherited the personal care business through the company's absorption and division; The company then transferred its shares to Oriental Beauty Holding Co., Ltd. ("OBH"), a fund invested by CVC Capital and its affiliates. Subsequently, Shiseido acquired a 35% stake in Asian Personal Care Holding (APCH), the sole parent company of OBH, to operate the target business in partnership with CVC. APCH is the actual operator of Fine Today.
On July 1, 2021, Shiseido completed the transfer procedures, and the transfer of assets was valued at 160 billion yen (about 9.8 billion yuan at that time).
In April 2023, Fine Today took over the production of personal care products and other products at Shiseido's Kuki factory in Japan, and later successively took over Shiseido's Vietnam factory, and established a research and development center, Fine Today Beauty Innovation Center, in Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, to gradually build a business system integrating technology development, production and sales.
According to Fine Today's official website, as of now, Fine Today has at least 20 brands, in addition to the above ten brands, including Fine Today's first original brand "+tmr", covering hair care, skin care, body care and beauty tools and other categories.
● 截自Fine Today官网
In China, Fine Today established Shanghai Fittings Cosmetics Co., Ltd. to promote an integrated business system from technology development to production and sales, and to accelerate the development and supply of products in a more flexible and flexible manner. Tsuneo Seto, CEO of Fine Today China and general manager of Fittings, previously said, "China has become the largest market for Fine Today Group in the world. ”
● 截自Fine Today中国官网
Fine Today has been steadily expanding its business and has established an effective management structure. According to Fine Today's 2023 sustainability report, the company's consolidated net income in 2022 exceeded 100 billion yen (about 4.5 billion yuan). Currently, Fine Today is preparing to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
During the brand transition, Shiseido gradually reduced its stake in Fine Today, and as of April 2023, Shiseido continued to hold 20.1% of Fine Today's shares, with a shareholding ratio of 20.09% as of the time of the announcement. With the completion of the latest equity transfer transaction, Fine Today will be completely separated from the Shiseido Group.
02
Initiating structural reforms and implementing a profit recovery plan
In recent years, the Shiseido Group has been selling non-core beauty brands, mainly mass products and makeup.
On August 26, 2021, Shiseido Group announced the sale of its three major cosmetics, including BareMerals, Laura Mercier and Buxom, for a transfer price of 700 million US dollars (about 4.5 billion yuan at the time).
In March 2022, Shiseido sold its Za Jirui and Pomi brands to URUOI, a beauty brand management group.
In July 2022, Shiseido's Asia-Pacific professional hairdressing business was sold to Henkel, which includes core brands such as Sublimic and Primience, which are part of the licensed brand Shiseido Professional.
● Professional hairdressing business
In February 2023, Shiseido announced a new three-year medium-term strategy, "SHIFT 2025 and Beyond", which shifts its development model from defensive to offensive, with the goal of achieving a core operating margin of 12% and 15% in 2025 and 2027, respectively, and improving the profitability of the cost structure transformation.
Sustainable profitable growth and structural reforms are the focus of Shiseido's business transformation.
In terms of building a more agile organizational structure, the Shiseido Group will establish a new Value Creation Strategy Headquarters, a Corporate Governance Department, a Global Brand Value Development Center, and a Global Product Value Development Center from January 1, 2024. Among them, the new Value Creation Strategy Headquarters was established to realize the value-added business model proposed in the medium-term business strategy "SHIFT 2025 and beyond", and the division is directly led by the Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer. As a result of the above-mentioned organizational restructuring, Shiseido has also undergone 16 personnel changes.
Shiseido Japan is implementing a new business transformation plan called "Mirai Shift Nippon 2025". The plan consists of three key pillars: sustainable growth, building a profitable base, and human capital transformation, with the goal of reducing costs by about 25 billion yen over the next two years by "optimizing efficiency in terms of cost of sales, marketing investment, and other expenses."
In addition, in terms of business development, Shiseido continued to maximize corporate value through active investments in high value-added value categories, divesting non-core businesses while strengthening investments:
In 2022, it acquired Gallinee, a British prebiotic skin care brand; In December 2023, it acquired Dr. Brown, an American dermatology skin care brand. Dennis Gross Skincare, which strengthens its premium skincare business and dermo-beauty portfolio through a series of acquisitions. Shiseido previously said in its financial report that it had completed the Dr. The acquisition of Dennis Gross Skin will have an impact on net sales of approximately 14 billion yen (about 680 million yuan) for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.
In December, Shiseido Americas established LIFT Ventures LLC, a venture capital fund focused on investing in start-ups with innovative initiatives in the beauty and wellness space.
In China, in May 2022, Shiseido's first Chinese investment fund, Ziyue Fund, was established in Xiamen, and in August of the same year, it led the first investment in Neo Health, which focuses on collagen, and will continue to focus on emerging investments in the beauty and health fields and digital companies.
Under a series of "change" combinations, Shiseido's profitability has gradually improved. According to the latest data for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, Shiseido Group's net sales were 249.5 billion yen (about 12 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 3.9%; Core operating profit was 11.3 billion yen (about 550 million yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 1.2 billion yen, but more than expected. The revenue of the Chinese market was about 55.5 billion yen (about 2.68 billion yuan), accounting for 22.2%.