Ulta Magnificence’s new chief govt officer Kecia Steelman continues to make vital strikes, this time snapping up House NK from funding agency Manzanita Capital.
Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed aside from that the acquisition was funded with money readily available and capability below Ulta’s current credit score facility.
Press experiences from final yr recommended Manzanita was looking for a deal valued between 300 million kilos and 400 million kilos.
House NK, which has 83 shops within the U.Okay. and Eire, will function as a stand-alone subsidiary of Ulta Magnificence and can proceed to be led by its current administration group, together with CEO Andy Lightfoot.
“In the present day’s announcement marks an thrilling step ahead for Ulta Magnificence’s international enlargement efforts, including the U.Okay. market to our current deliberate openings in Mexico and the Center East later this yr,” mentioned Steelman. “House NK is a beloved model with a powerful working mannequin and buyer loyalty, and we couldn’t be extra thrilled to welcome the model into the Ulta Magnificence household.”
House NK was based in Covent Backyard in 1993 by Nicky Kinnaird as a shiny vacation spot for area of interest, worldwide manufacturers — lots of them skincare — that have been tough to seek out within the U.Okay.
It had been a part of Manzanita Capital for 23 years. Reviews that the agency was attempting to promote House NK emerged in April 2024. It beforehand tried to off-load it in 2018, earlier than deciding to tug the retailer off the market.
Invoice Fisher, CEO and founding father of Manzanita Capital, mentioned: “I’ve each confidence that Ulta Magnificence and this terrific administration group will take House NK to new heights.”
Lightfoot added that he was excited by the chance to hitch Ulta Magnificence and “profit from its scale, model relationships and assets.”
“This acquisition units each firms on a path to additional success and importantly, allows us to achieve extra magnificence lovers all through the world at scale. As a collective power of proficient, passionate groups, I’m assured we are going to take House NK to new heights,” he continued.
The U.S. wholesale division of House NK, which entails roughly 600 factors of distribution throughout Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Hudson’s Bay and the corporate’s shop-in-shop collaboration with Walmart and Magnificence SpaceNK, was acquired by PCA Firms in June 2024.
Since taking the reins as CEO of Ulta in the beginning of this yr, Steelman has been executing its worldwide enlargement. Later this yr Ulta will debut in Mexico via a three way partnership with Axo, earlier than arriving within the Center East through a licensing settlement with Alshaya Group.
Kecia Steelman
Kate Jones
Within the Center East, the primary places will likely be in Dubai and Kuwait Metropolis, with one retailer in every location to start with, though the technique is to broaden shortly. It’s the identical story in Mexico.
“We’re on the brink of launch within the again half of 2025 for Mexico, and it’ll in all probability be within the later half of the yr for the Center East. For Mexico, it’s a three way partnership with Axo. We’re very enthusiastic about our partnership. The groups are working very properly collectively. We consider we will get 10 shops open in a reasonably brief time frame,” Steelman mentioned throughout an April interview with WWD.
“Regarding the Center East, that’s truly a licensed settlement that we’re doing with Alshaya Group. We’ve talked to Alshaya Group for fairly a while, and really feel like they’re a unbelievable accomplice for us to convey our model to life within the Center East.”
Thursday’s announcement that Ulta is buying Spake NK is yet one more signal that magnificence M&A is selecting up after a prolonged slowdown. Different current offers embrace L’Oréal snapping up Medik8 and Colour Wow, E.l.f. Magnificence shopping for Hailey Bieber’s Rhode and Unilever’s buy of Dr. Squatch.
Different magnificence manufacturers which have been out there for a while will little doubt be hoping that this thawing means they are going to quickly have some success.
