Feelunique buyout collapses as bids fall short

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Dec 10, 2018

The owner of prestige beauty e-tailer Feelunique has reportedly called off its sale after bidders failed to match the firm’s £200m valuation.

Private Equity firm Palamon Capital Partners has shelved plans to sell the website, which offers beauty products from high-end brands such as Clinique, Dior and Charlotte Tilbury, according to the Sunday Times.

Despite growing demand for beauty products online, the website reported a loss of £6.6m on revenues of £80m last year.

It was acquired by Palamon Capital Partners, whose portfolio also includes Happy Socks, for £26m in 2012 - seven years after its creation.

The beauty online retailer says it is the largest in Europe, offering over 30,000 products from 500 brands. It operates dedicated websites in the UK, France, the EU, Germany, Norway, China and the US, and ships to 120 countries.

Rumours about Feelunique’s potential sale started last year after the beauty e-tailer announced record Black Friday sales. Investment bank Jeffries was appointed to look at sale options.

Feelunique recently launched a site on WeChat, one of China’s leading apps, to boost demand in the region, and partnered with French e-tailer La Redoute.