Kim Kardashian is reportedly looking to buy back the 20% of her beauty business she sold to Coty.
The talks are ongoing, a sale price hasn’t been reached and there’s no certainty that a deal will be made, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reportedTuesday (July 11), citing unnamed sources.
Coty acquired its stake in the beauty business, which is now named SKKN by Kim and was previously called KKW Holdings, three years ago, according to the report. The business was valued at $1 billion at that time.
Kardashian wants to buy back that stake in order to expand the range of beauty product categories offered by SKKN, the report said.
Coty completed its acquisition of the 20% stake in the beauty business in January 2021 after announcing the deal in June 2020.
The company said at the time that it would have the overall responsibility for the development of the brand’s portfolio, while Kardashian would lead the product and communication initiatives.
About a year earlier, Coty bought a controlling stake in the cosmetics line Kylie Cosmetics from Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the five Kardashian-Jenner sisters, saying “this is where the growth of the market is.”
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More recently, in August 2022, Coty partnered with Ant Group to make Coty the first beauty companyin travel retail to support Alipay and other digital payment methods.
Coty said at the time that it would use the digital tools under Alipay+ to expand the travel retail business, create brand campaigns and offer customized consumer experiences.
The news of the talks of a new transaction comes at a time when another brand created by Kardashian, Skims, is gearing up to establish its inaugural permanent stores in the coming year.
The brand, which specializes in underwear, loungewear and shapewear, launched as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) venture in 2019 and has since added physical retail by partnering with department stores like Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue and by embracing temporary shop-in-shop concepts at locations such as the Selfridges in London and Rockefeller Center in New York.
It now plans to launch its flagship store in Los Angeles during the first half of 2024, followed by an opening in New York.
