L’Oréal’s 2018 beauty round-up

17-Dec-2018 - Last updated on 17-Dec-2018 at 07:52 GMT

From its acquisition of major German naturals pioneer Logocos Naturkosmetik AG to its 60 year anniversary in Canada, L’Oréal has made strides in 2018 to maintain its position as industry leader. We take a look at some of the company’s key strategic moves from this year in this Editor’s Spotlight.

L’Oréal’s acquisition of Logocos Naturkosmetik

L’Oréal has completed the acquisition of German natural beauty company Logocos Naturkosmetik AG, a beauty company which is said to have been a key pioneer in the natural cosmetics trend.

All the company’s brands are vegan and bio certified with a range of products using their own plant extracts and natural ingredients derived from organic farming.

“In line with L’Oréal’s strategy to “seize what starts”, this acquisition reinforces the position of the Division on one of today’s major beauty ascending trends,” Alexis Perakis-Valat, President of L’Oréal’s Consumer Products Division, said.

Read our full report here.

L’Oréal sets sights on startups: new corporate venture capital fund

L’Oréal has announced the launch of BOLD Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development, a corporate venture capital fund that will take minority stakes in innovative startups with high growth potential.

The fund will invest in new business models in marketing, R&I, digital, retail, communication, supply chain and packaging and support the startups with L’Oréal’s expertise, networking and mentorship, the beauty leader explains.

This launch builds on L’Oréal’s open innovation strategy that connects the Group to “a global ecosystem” of agile, innovative startups, according to the company.

This strategy already includes partnerships with Founders Factory, Partech International Ventures, Station F and Raise Ventures, and the new venture capital fund adds to this.

L’Oréal marks 60 years in Canada with new offices

Today, the company’s Canadian subsidiary comprises four divisions, 39 brands, and brought in $1.192bn in sales last year. Read our report by US editor Deanna Utroske here.

Water reduction in beauty: a major future craze?

L’Oréal’s recently announced collaboration with Swiss startup Gjosa sees the company launch a showerhead and specially formulated shampoos that together are able to reduce the amount of water used in shampooing.

Indeed, the company claims it reduces the amount of water and energy consumption by 70%. Discover more here.

Strong growth this year

As per its most recent (third quarter) results, L’Oréal saw strong growth of +6.8% over the first nine months this year.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L'Oréal, said: "After an acceleration in the third quarter, with the highest quarterly growth rate for 10 years, L'Oréal's sales have shown strong growth over the first nine months of the year.

“In a beauty market that continues to accelerate, driven by robust growth in skincare, the Group maintains its strong momentum.”