Private equity deal news and insights from the London newsroom

Skincare shows strength despite inflation; HarbourVest takes stake in KKR- and Hg-backed compliance biz

Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom.

Inflation might be creeping back up across Europe and the US, but one sector that proved resilient even during the spike in price rises over the last couple of years was the skincare sector.

This morning, we take a look at some of the trends that shaped dealmaking in the sector in 2024 and will likely push further activity next year.

Next, we have HarbourVest investing in a KKR- and Hg-backed provider of compliance and certification products.

Then, the Riverside Company has bought a controlling stake in a developer and manufacturer of fragrances.

Finishing up, Innova Capital portfolio company STX Next, a Polish provider of AI and data products, announced it was acquiring compatriot Brainhub.

Skin deep

Many consumer sub-segments have struggled as inflation ate into spending money over the last couple of years, writes PE Hub’s Sophie Rose. But the skincare sector has been resilient due to a social media boom and its fast-moving nature.

Find out more in the premium version of the Wire.

Teaming up

HarbourVest has invested in Citation Group, an international provider of tech-enabled compliance and certification products to small and medium-sized enterprises that has backing from KKR and Hg.

More details in the premium version of the Wire.

Specialty ingredients

Switching back to personal care, the Riverside Company has bought a controlling stake in Essential Compositions, a developer and manufacturer of fragrances.

Big on data

As PE Hub’s Rafael Canton wrote earlier in the week, 2024 was the year of the data center in private equity, as GPs leapt on a boom in the sector thanks to the advent of generative AI and cloud computing.

But as well as the infrastructure, private equity has also been investing in artificial intelligence and data engineering companies themselves.

This morning, Innova Capital portfolio company STX Next, a provider of AI and data products headquartered in Poznań, Poland, announced it was acquiring compatriot Brainhub, a software development company focused on software frameworks JS, .NET and AWS.

Right, that’s it from me today. Obey Martin Manayiti will be on US duty later today and I’ll be back with you in Europe tomorrow as Irien Joseph is on holiday.

Cheers,

Craig

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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“The skincare field is a fast-moving environment with a lot of innovation, so you do need to fund and fuel the R&D pipeline quite aggressively if you want to succeed longer term.”

— Denis Ribon, chairman and managing partner, Archimed

Today's letter was prepared by Craig McGlashan

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