Douglas acquires Parfümerie Akzente, targets online beauty market

By

Rüdiger Oberschür

Translated by
Barbara Santamaria

Published
Aug 29, 2018

Douglas is gearing up to take the fragrance e-commerce market by storm, after successfully completing its acquisition of German fragrance retailer Parfümerie Akzente and its online shop Parfumdreams earlier this month.

The transaction was approved by Germany’s national competition regulator at the end of July, paving the way for Douglas to increase its share of online sales. The European retailer is hoping to become a leader in the digital beauty market, where Parfumdreams holds a prominent position.

“With the acquisition, we are giving our e‐commerce business a decisive boost. With our two brands Douglas and parfumdreams, we position ourselves online in an even more targeted manner, strengthen our innovative capacities and sharpen our customer focus,” said Tina Müller, CEO of Douglas.

“As one of the leading companies for beauty products on the net, we will jointly play a decisive role in shaping the market for perfumery and cosmetic products online.”

Parfumdreams is one of the biggest online fragrance retailers in Germany, and it also operates in ten further European countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain and France.

The online brand will retain its name and roll out in further Douglas markets as part of the company’s new two-brand strategy.

Parfumdreams founder Kai Renchen will remain as managing director of Parfümerie Akzente GmbH and Parfumdreams, providing Douglas’ top management team with strong e-commerce expertise.

With more than 450 employees, Parfümerie Akzente made sales of 75 million euros in financial year 2017. It remains unclear how much Douglas paid to buy the business, but the deal was financed by Douglas from its operating cash flow.

Douglas operates 2,500 stores and online platforms in 19 countries in Europe. In financial year 2016-2017, the company generated sales of 2.8 billion euros. This confirms the success of its proposition, with a portfolio of some 35,000 prestige products in the areas of perfumery, decorative cosmetics and skincare.