Shiseido Acquires Microbiome Beauty Brand Gallinée

Shiseido Europe S.A., a subsidiary of Shiseido Company, Limited, is acquiring all outstanding shares of Gallinée Ltd., the London-based, microbiome-focused beauty brand.

The acquisition exemplifies Shiseido’s commitment to the skin beauty category and is part of its “WIN 2023 and Beyond” strategy to become the world’s No. 1 company in the category by 2030, the Japanese beauty giant said in a statement released today.

“Shiseido's acquisition of Gallinée is interesting in at least two regards,” said Ariel Ohana, managing partner, Ohana & Co., an investment banking firm. “First by its size. Indeed, Gallinée is still a small company, and the recent M&A transactions by beauty conglomerates such as Shiseido and L'Oréal, were much larger in size. For instance, Shiseido's previous acquisition of a brand was Drunk Elephant, which it reportedly acquired for $845 million. Second, by the nature of Gallinée's products: since Shiseido is already one of the leading global players in prestige skincare, the objective of this acquisition cannot be to simply consolidate Gallinée's skincare revenues. However, Gallinée has an early mover advantage in the field of microbiome and Shiseido's acquisition might signal that this market is ready to mature; and this signal alone might lead to other acquisitions in the space. “

Gallinée was founded in 2014 by Marie Drago. The brand offers a range of science-backed beauty products featuring a patented complex of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics that nourish and strengthen the skin’s microbiome.  Gallinée’s roster includes  17 products across skincare, body care, hair care and supplements, which are primarily sold in the UK and France.

According to Shiseido, Gallinée will deliver a complementary yet unique addition to its existing portfolio given its focus on beauty and wellness as well as its differentiated positioning within the emerging field of skin microbiome.

As part of Shiseido group, Gallinée will be able to leverage resources across the company’s commercial infrastructure, extensive R＆D capabilities especially from its European Innovation Center to lead the development of the skin microbiome within the EMEA territory, and cross-functional expertise to continue to drive brand growth. 

Following the transaction, Drago, will join Shiseido’s EMEA team and continue to deliver product innovation and support Gallinée as the Chief Creative Officer of the brand. She will report directly to Franck Marilly, president and CEO, Shiseido EMEA and global fragrance.

Unilever Ventures had been an early investor in Gallinée.