Announced last February, Henkel’s acquisition of professional hair company, Shiseido, has successfully been concluded. With its headquarters in Tokyo, Shiseido comprises leading professional hair brands, such as Sublimic and Primience, licensed as the Shimmied Professional brand.
This collaboration between Henkel and Shiseido is intended to further grow the business. This is reinforced by Shiseido retaining a 20% share in the business’ legal entity in Japan. In the 2021fiscal year, the acquired business reported sales of more than €100 Million and employed around 500 people.
David Tung, Regional President of Henkel Consumer Brands Asia, said: ”We have a clear ambition to grow our Beauty Care business in Asia-Pacific. With this acquisition, we have become a leading player in the hair professional business in the region, which includes having a significantly stronger market position in Japan and China. At the same time, we have been able to establish our presence in South Korea and a leading position in Thailand”.
Building on the success of Schwarzkopf Professional as a global expert in hair colour innovation and trends, the addition of Shiseido Professional brings further capabilities and understanding in J-beauty premium hair and scalp care, anti-hair loss, styling and perm solutions.
“Bringing together two successful, premium brands creates an attractive portfolio and an exciting fusion of Western and Asian beauty expertise, innovation and education under one roof. This greatly enhances the value we offer to our hair salon partners and hairdressing community,” added David.
A J-beauty innovation hub will be set up in Tokyo to develop and tailor products for consumers in Asia. It will serve as a base for new product development and ingredient formulation, for example, for both the Shiseido Professional and Schwarzkopf brands.
“We are building a strong innovation and growth platform to drive our hair professional business in Asia. In line with this, we will increase our customer-centricity, speed to market and further digitalize our business. Additionally, with people as a critical success factor, our priorities are to attract and retain the right talent, promote a diverse and inclusive culture, and nurture an entrepreneurial spirit, which is much needed in an increasingly dynamic and fast-changing world. We warmly welcome the Shiseido Professional team to our Henkel family,” concluded David.
The professional hair business of Henkel is among the top three beauty companies worldwide and offers a broad portfolio of exclusively professional hair care, hairstyling and colour products, such as Schwarzkopf Professional, Bonacure, Igora Royal and Authentic Beauty Concept. It generates sales of more than €1 Billion and by the beginning of 2023 will be part of the future Henkel Consumer Brands business unit, the new multi-category platform which will be established through the merger of the laundry & home care and beauty care business.
