Kering Beauté acquires luxury perfume house Creed. French luxury group Kering Beauté (Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni…) has announced the acquisition of English luxury perfume house Creed from financial investor BlackRock LTPC. Creed is a legendary fragrance house steeped in tradition, best known for producing unique fragrances and using exquisite natural ingredients. The company is thus venturing into the niche perfumery market for the first time.
Kering Beauté acquires Creed – the world’s largest independent player in the high-end fragrance market
Founded in 1760 by James Henry Creed, Creed is the world’s largest independent fragrance company. Creed has a distinctive collection of timeless and sophisticated fragrances, including the renowned Aventus fragrance.
Kering Beauté therefore sees the agreement as an important strategic step to lay the foundation for future growth in the category. It fits perfectly into the portfolio of renowned luxury brands, according to the company, and provides the company with the necessary scale and ideal conditions for the future development of other Kering Beauté fragrance brands, including through the use of the Creed brand’s global distribution network.
Further exploiting Creed’s potential in different regions, channels and categories
While preserving Creed’s heritage and premium brand image, Kering Beauté will continue to realise Creed’s potential in different regions, channels and categories, in particular by accelerating its development in China and travel-retail, as well as by further expanding its portfolio of women’s fragrances, body and home fragrances.
Raffaella Cornaggia, CEO of Kering Beauté, explains, “Creed has a unique positioning in the fragrance market. We see a very compelling rationale and mutual strategic benefits in terms of expertise, network, and geographical footprint. We look forward to working with CEO Sarah Rotheram and her passionate team to continue to drive Creed’s success worldwide.”
The high-end luxury fragrance segment is currently benefiting from strong market dynamics that are driving double-digit growth, high profitability and long-term revenues, resulting in a largely stable earnings situation independent of rapidly changing market cycles.
Beauty category as a strategic investment with sustainable value for the Group
In the beauty category, Kering sees a natural extension of its own luxury universe and is therefore confident that expansion in this strategic segment can create sustainable value for the Group and its Houses.
“The acquisition of Creed represents Kering Beauté’s first strategic initiative, and demonstrates our commitment to developing a strong position in the luxury beauty segment. I am thrilled that today our stories and values come together around this spirit of family entrepreneurship and excellence to accelerate our journey in beauty, and I am delighted that the brand is joining Kering’s collection of luxury Houses.” François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kering, explains.
André Bourbonnais, Global Head of Long Term Private Capital at BlackRock, added: “We are pleased and honored to have partnered with the Creed family and Creed Executive Chairman and BlackRock LTPC Operating Partner, Javier Ferrán, who has been critically important in the sourcing of and value creation for Creed. Our partnership has helped us to further grow this world-class business through geographic and channel expansion, new product development and a focused marketing strategy. This transaction is highly emblematic of BlackRock LTPC’s strategy of investing in high-quality companies and actively collaborating with management teams to create value.”
Creed was founded in 1760 by James Henry Creed as a tailor shop
Founded in 1760 by James Henry Creed as a tailor shop for the royal families of Europe, Creed has evolved into a prestigious perfume house that boasts a prestigious family heritage and a legacy that is testament to a unique creative spirit. Olivier Creed and his son Erwin continue this tradition today. Creed is known for one of its bestsellers, Aventus, which consistently ranks remarkably high in the luxury fragrance rankings in major markets around the world. Praised for its rich heritage, timeless fragrances and versatility for both men and women, Creed is widely recognised for producing handcrafted essences of unsurpassed quality using a traditional technique to create highly distinctive and sophisticated fragrances.
Expertise and techniques of past generations brought into the present
Creed is one of the last luxury perfume houses to carefully select, research, control and commission its natural raw materials and is constantly on the lookout for the finest and most exquisite raw materials in the world. With its “Fragrance for the Future” framework, Creed ensures that its fragrances, created with the expertise and techniques of past generations, are produced sustainably in its laboratory in Fontainebleau on the outskirts of Paris.
Creed: High growth without compromising on product quality or brand value
Creed offers a tailored, sophisticated shopping experience through a network of 36 branded shops and quality distribution at a total of around 1,400 points of sale worldwide. In the financial year ending 31 March 2023, the company achieved a turnover of more than 250 million euros. In recent years, Creed has achieved rapid double-digit growth and remarkable profitability with very high EBITDA margins, without compromising on product quality or brand value.
The transaction is expected to close during the second half of 2023, subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.
[Text: parfuemerienachrichten/image: Kering]
