
Shiseido offloads prestige make-up brands, bareMinerals, BUXOM and Laura Mercier
Shiseido Americas has announced the sale of prestige make-up brands bareMinerals, BUXOM and Laura Mercier to Advent International. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed by Advent, although a statement published by Shiseido lists the transfer price as US$700 million.

Vogue Singapore to launch NFT series to ‘engage crypto community’
Vogue Singapore is set to launch a series of mystery boxes on NFT marketplace Binance, which comes as part of its September issue.

Elizabeth Arden partners with Emoji on brand collaboration in China
Elizabeth Arden has partnered with the Emoji brand on a new collaboration, with the co-branded gift box and new packaging created to promote the ACE eye cream, Pink Capsules and Ceramide Micro Essence in China.

Woman calls for boycott of Sephora stores after alleged racial profiling incident in Hong Kong
A woman of Pakistani heritage has called for a boycott of Sephora stores after claiming that she was followed out of a Hong Kong store and subjected to a search due to the color of her skin, according to a report published by the South China Morning Post.

VLCC Health Care gears up for IPO
VLCC Health Care is gearing up to float on the Indian stock market, according to a report published by The Times of India.

Chinese retail sales disappoint as floods and COVID-19 stem growth
China saw retail sales grow 8.5 percent in July versus the same period in 2020, according to a report published by CNBC, well below the 11.5 percent growth forecast.

MyGlamm to branch out into baby care with acquisition of BabyChakra
MyGlamm has announced the acquisition of India’s top parenting platform, BabyChakra. Together, the duo plan to build the country’s largest Mom-Baby Content to Commerce platform.

Shinsegae sets Q2 record as luxury sales boom
Shinsegae has posted its largest Q2 operating profit on record, according to a report published by Pulse News.

Alibaba ushers in sweeping change following assault case
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang has announced a series of initiatives and disciplinary measures following a serious incident of sexual assault at the company.

P&G fends off Chinese patent challenge
Procter & Gamble has been exonerated by the Shanghai IP Court after a complaint of patent infringement was bought against the US FMCG giant, according to a report published by Iam Media.

Shiseido China launches Beauty Innovations Fund
Shiseido China has announced the launch of a Beauty Innovations Fund in collaboration with Boyu Capital. The fund, which is due to start this year after the relevant regulatory filings are complete, will explore investment opportunities among emerging Chinese brands in cosmetics and wellness.

Watsons debuts AI Foundation Finder Tool
Watsons has announced the launch of its Foundation Finder in its mobile app. The new widget purports to help customers identify their perfect base color and shade, not to mention furthering the brand’s reach into the foundation segment.

Chanel Korea apologizes after data leak following cyber attack
Chanel Korea has issued an apology after a cyberattack leaked customer’s personal data from the membership database of its Fragrance and Beauty division, according to a report by the Korea Herald.

Unilever Bangladesh launches direct-to-consumer e-commerce site
Unilever Bangladesh has launched a direct-to-consumer e-commerce site, named Ushopbd.com.

Procter & Gamble’s new COO is first Indian National to take up role
Last week in a succession announcement, Procter & Gamble named both its new CEO and COO (Jon Moeller and Shailesh Jejurikar respectively) but, in all the fanfare, one important detail was lost: Jejurikar is the first Indian National to take up such a key role at the US FMCG giant, according to a report published by the India Times.

Shiseido bounces back: 1H sales up 21.5 percent
Shiseido is on the road to recovery after COVID-19 saw sales plummet some 26 percent in the first half of 2020. The J-beauty behemoth’s latest set of results tell a different story, with sales rising 21.5 percent in the first six months of 2021, reaching ¥507,687 million.

The Vitamin Shoppe announces expansion into South Korea with e-commerce and online marketplaces
U.S. nutritional retailer The Vitamin Shoppe has announced its expansion into South Korea with the launch of a directly-owned and operated e-commerce busines

Square acquires Afterpay in US$29 billion deal as ‘buy now, pay later’ finance options soar in popularity
Payment company Square has acquired ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Afterpay in a US$29 billion deal, making it the largest takeover bid in Australian history, according to FT.com.

PZ Cussons appoints Lion and Lion to lead digital marketing efforts in Indonesia
PZ Cussons has drafted in Lion & Lion to help it navigate its launch onto the e-commerce market in Indonesia, according to a report published by Marketing Interactive.

AmorePacific storms second quarter with profit up 2680.2 percent yoy
AmorePacific Group has reported a storming set of second-quarter results, according to a report published by Korea Joonang Daily, well above analyst expectations.

Chanel Singapore launches beauty and fragrance e-shop
Chanel has launched a new e-commerce platform for its beauty and fragrance offer for Singaporean shoppers, according to a report published by Tatler Asia.

Hindustan Unilever debuts in-store vending model ‘Smart Fill’ at Mumbai Mall
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has debuted its new in-store vending model ‘Smart Fill’ at Mumbai’s Reliance Smart Acme Mall, in a pilot project via a partnership with Reliance Retail.

Indonesian marketplace GudangAda raises $100 million in Series B funding round
Indonesian marketplace GudangAda has raised more than $100 million in a Series B funding round, which was led by Asia Partners and Falcon Edge, according to a report by TechCrunch.

MyGlamm closes Series C funding round at US$71 million
India’s DTC beauty brand MyGlamm has closed its Series C funding round at US$71 million with a top up of $47.5 million to the existing $23.5 million crores it had closed in March of this year.

LG Household & Health Care reports bolster Q2 sales thanks to luxury cosmetics sales in China
LG Household & Healthcare has reported a 10.6 YOY Q2 net income rise to 226.4 billion won ($196.8 million), bolstered by the sale of luxury brand cosmetics in China.

Watsons sets carbon offsetting target
Watsons has announced that it is strengthening its commitment to climate change with a target to offset 2,250 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Dior Beauty teams up with South Korean Zepeto to launch digital makeup collection
Dior’s beauty arm has teamed up with South Korean social media app Zepeto to launch a digital makeup collection, aimed at a Gen Z audience.

Dolce & Gabbana to launch NFT collection in partnership with luxury digital marketplace UNXD
Dolce & Gabbana is set to launch a new and exclusive non-fungible token (NFT) collection in collaboration with luxury digital marketplace UNXD, powered by the Polygon Network, according to a report by Crypto Daily.

Streaming service Netflix to open first bricks & mortar story in Tokyo
U.S.-based streaming service Netflix is set to open its first bricks & mortar store in the first half of 2022, located in Tokyo

Skin care brand Kans severs ties with Kris Wu over sexual assault allegation
Local Chinese skin care brand, Kans has announced that it will sever all ties with pop star Kris Wu after the singer was accused of the date rape of a teenage girl, according to a report published by France 24. Wu has denied the allegations.

Shinsegae debuts overnight delivery for beauty products
Shinsegae’s online shopping unit, SSG.com has launched an overnight delivery service for beauty products, according to a report published by Aju Daily.

Bewakoof debuts beauty brand, Cosmos
Bewakoof has announced the launch of its first beauty and personal care line, according to a report published by Mint. The Indian D2C fashion brand’s first foray into cosmetics has been named Cosmos.

NX Nivea announces winners of accelerator program
NX Nivea Accelerator, the global beauty startup acceleration program of Beiersdorf, has announced the five winners of its annual start-up acceleration program.

India’s Flipkart valuations soars to US$37.6 billion following fundraising efforts
Indian e-commerce start-up Flipkart, backed by Walmart, has seen its valuation rise to US$37.6 billion following fundraising supported by Japan’s SoftBank Group and other investors, according to WSJ.

Wesfarmers enters bid for Australian Pharmaceutical Industries
Wesfarmers has announced that it has submitted a non-binding offer to the Board of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries to acquire 100 percent of API’s shares for US$1.38 per share. The proposal price equates to a total equity value of US$687 million, based on 498.2 million fully diluted shares outstanding.

Chinese court awards L’Occitane US$1.4 million) in trademark infringement suit
A Chinese appeal court has awarded L’Occitane damages of US$1.4 million (RMB9 million) and an injunction for trademark infringement and unfair competition, according to a report published by the National Law Review.

WeChat groups key to reaching Chinese customers
Chinese and foreign brands are becoming increasingly reliant on WeChat to reach shoppers, according to a report published by SCMP.

L’Oréal promotes Indian managers to regional leadership roles
L’Oréal has promoted four leaders from the Indian management team to regional management roles across the South Asia, the Middle East and North African (SAPMENA) zone, according to the Times of India.

Shiseido to open boutique at Haneda Airport ahead of Toyko Olympics
Shiseido will launch a new boutique in the international departure area of Haneda Airport Terminal 3, ahead of next month’s Tokyo Olympics.

Bombay Shaving teams up with cricketer Ashwin over razor launch
Bombay Shaving has named R Ashwin as Brand Ambassador, according to a report published by Mint.

P&G Singapore opens dedicated baby care R&D center
Procter & Gamble Singapore is extending its R&D capabilities with the launch of a dedicated baby care research facility at the P&G Singapore Innovation Center, according to a report published by Biospectrum Media.

Shiseido completes sale of personal care business; creates joint venture Fine Today Shiseido
Shiseido has announced that it has completed the sale of its personal care business, previously announced in February this year.

Estée Lauder Companies fined 400,000 yuan for false Clinique claims in China
The Estée Lauder Companies has been fined 400,000 yuan (US$61,920) by Jing’an District Administration for Market Regulation due to misleading claims on a Clinique product, according to Shine.cn.

L’Occitane FY2021 net profits boosted by online sales; taking ‘human approach’ to beauty
L’Occitane has reported an annual net profit rise of 36.3 percent to a record €157 million, with that sales and performance ‘exceeding expectations.’

Indian consumer tech company boAt expands into personal grooming sector
Indian D2C consumer tech company boAt has expanded into the personal grooming sector with its new venture, named MISFIT, aimed at millennials.

IOI to cooperate with forced labor investigation
Palm oil supplier IOI has issued a statement in response to allegations concerning forced labor at its Malaysian branch. The commodity producer revealed that it was aware of a letter from US Customs and Border Protection which acknowledges receipt of a petition containing said allegations and that it has determined that there is sufficient cause to investigate.

Kao reports on sustainability progress
Kao has released progress reports on its ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, first announced in April 2019.

UK health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett launches into China via Tmall
UK health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett has launched into China via Alibaba’s Tmall site.

Global investment firm KKR acquires controlling stake in Vini Cosmetics
Global investment firm KKR has acquired a controlling stake in Indian beauty company Vini Cosmetics in an investment deal worth US$625 million.

Yooma pulls out of China following CBD ban
Canadian wellness platform Yooma has announced that it will be discontinuing operations in China, effective immediately.
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