Kylie Jenner sells stake in cosmetics company for $600m

LOS ANGELES-Reuters

Coty Inc said on Nov. 19 it would pay $600 million for a majority stake in Kylie Jenner’s make-up and skincare businesses, as it looks to tap into the reality TV star’s huge social media reach, sending its shares up as much as 5 percent. 

One of the cosmetics world’s older names, Coty is seeking to revitalize sales on the back of its broad global distribution and is banking on Jenner’s more than 270 million social media followers to attract a younger audience.

Jenner, 22, the youngest sibling of the wildly popular Kardashian-Jenner clan, a household name a decade after their reality TV show “Keeping up with the Kardashians” became a smash hit, started her make up line with lipstick and lip liner kits in 2015.

The kits sold out within minutes of launching, an early sign of her power as a social media influencer, and Coty said Kylie Cosmetics had an estimated $177 million in net revenues over the past 12 months.

Forbes, making her the youngest self-made billionaire on its 2018 list, said Jenner’s line of cosmetics brought in sales of an estimated $360 million in 2018.

Coty will hold 51 percent of Jenner’s business, valuing her company at about $1.2 billion.

“Kylie is a big brand in beauty today. She’s very influential ... (but) Coty remains financially leveraged,” D.A. Davidson retail analyst Linda Bolton Weiser said.

Celebrities, including Jenner, are leveraging their huge social media following to launch their cosmetics and lifestyle brands and compete with established players in the market.

Social media-powered beauty brands such as Glossier, Jessica Alba’s Honest Beauty and Huda Beauty have all notched up about $1 billion in valuation, according to media reports.

“I look forward to continuing the creativity and ingenuity for each collection that consumers have come to expect and engaging with my fans across social media,” Jenner said in a statement.