Kylie Jenner is loosening the reigns on her empirical cosmetic brand, selling a $600 million majority stake to beauty products giant Coty Inc.
Kylie Cosmetics, founded by the 22-year-old in 2015, turned the Kardashian-Jenner sister into a mogul.
Valued at a whopping $1.2 billion, Coty plan to capitalise on the self-made billionaire’s star power (as witnessed by the recent Rise and Shine riffraff).
While Kylie will remain the face of the business, the cosmetics maker – whose brands include Hugo Boss and Burberry fragrances, as well as Covergirl, Rimmel and Max Factor – will have overall responsibility. The announcement has since driven shares in the company up by 5%.
In a statement, Jenner said:
I’m excited to partner with Coty to continue to reach even more fans of Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin around the world. 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.
This partnership will allow me and my team to stay focused on the creation and development of each product while building the brand into an international beauty powerhouse.
Kylie’s first lipstick kits sold out within minutes of launching in 2015: now, she’s a social media powerhouse, with more than 150 million followers on Instagram.
Coty CEO Pierre Laubies said in a press release:
We are pleased to welcome Kylie into our organization and family. Combining Kylie’s creative vision and unparalleled consumer interest with Coty’s expertise and leadership in prestige beauty products is an exciting next step in our transformation and will leverage our core strengths around fragrances, cosmetics and skincare, allowing Kylie’s brands to reach their full potential.
Kylie is a modern-day icon, with an incredible sense of the beauty consumer, and we believe in the high potential of building a global beauty brand together.
According to Coty, Kylie Cosmetics took in about $177 million in the last 12 months. The brand also reached new heights when Ulta Beauty, which operates roughly 1,100 stores, started exclusively carrying her products.
The release added:
Coty will have overall responsibility for the portfolio’s development, leveraging its global knowledge and capabilities in R&D, manufacturing, distribution, commercial and go-to-market expertise, as well as its deep understanding of the fragrances, cosmetics and skincare categories.
In addition to its responsibilities within the partnership, Coty will act as a licensee for skincare, fragrances, and nail products.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.