French multinational L’Oréal has today acquired a 10% stake of Swiss derma skin and aesthetics business Galderma Group AG from Sunshine SwissCo AG (a consortium led by EQT), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd. for a non-disclosed sum.
The two businesses will also work in a strategic scientific partnership: fusing Galderma’s dermatological solutions with L’Oréal’s skin biology, diagnostic tools and evaluation methods expertise.
According to Galderma, the partnership will be “focused on complementary research projects which could develop advanced, future-proof technologies with direct applications in the field of dermatology.”
“Ambitious step for L’Oréal”
L’Oréal’s CEO Nicolas Hieronimus said the move “marks an ambitious step for L’Oréal” that “allows us to explore partnering in the fast-growing aesthetics market, a key adjacency to our own pure beauty play.”
Hieronimus continued: “We fully support Galderma’s management and its strategy as a leading dermatology pure player, respect its independence and are very confident in its long-term growth potential.”
Meanwhile, Galderma CEO Flemming Ørnskov said the derma and aesthetics company was “on a journey of growth, innovation and leadership in the field of dermatology, powered by our unique integrated model.”
He noted that its “commitment to progressing our current late-stage pipeline and advancing science and innovation” remained a “cornerstone of our approach” and said L’Oréal’s investment was “a sign of confidence” in its strategy, track record and growth potential.
We look forward to pursuing scientific partnership opportunities together, for the benefit of the customers, patients and consumers we serve across the globe every day,” he continued.
When Galderma announced its half-year financial results for 2024 last week, it record net sales of $2.2bn over the six-month period, with net sales growth of 10.8% that was “predominantly driven by volume growth.”
It also saw growth across all international markets, including the difficult Chinese market – where many of its peers, including L’Oréal – have experienced sales declines in the past year.
Ørnskov was optimistic about the future and said that the company was “progressing our late-stage pipeline with two ‘potential blockbusters’ on track to start contributing to the overall company performance as early as 2025.”
Galderma: a pure-play dermatology & injectable aesthetics leader
The recent shining sales results demonstrated that Galderma has established itself as the pure-play dermatology category leader and one of the world’s largest players in injectable aesthetics. The business offers a broad portfolio of dermo-cosmetics, dermatologic drugs, and hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers, neuromodulators and biostimulators. It has continually invested in R&D and advanced its innovation pipeline across the full spectrum of the fast-growing dermatology market though injectable aesthetics, dermatological skincare and therapeutic dermatology.
In recent years, L’Oréal has heavily invested in beauty technology and has become a pioneer in this area. Its approach has been to blend diagnostic tools, topical products, consumer devices, and aesthetic treatments correct, repair, prevent, anticipate, and intercept the signs of skin ageing.
