Grupo Boticario eyes acquisitions in Brazil and overseas markets

Brazilian cosmetics company Grupo Boticario is planning to make acquisitions in domestic and overseas markets as the competition deepens post Avon-Natura merger.

The company is a competitor to Brazil-based Natura & Co, which became a leading beauty group following its acquisition of Avon Products in 2019, reported Reuters.

Citing intensified competition, Grupo Boticario CEO Arthur Grynbaum was quoted by Reuters as saying: “It is our duty to evaluate everything out there in the market.”

Domestic publication Valor Economico quoted Grynbaum as saying that Boticario was exploring the acquisition of US-based Coty’s Brazilian operations to boost its share in hair care segment.

According to Grynbaum, Chinese firms are giving tough competition with products at cheaper prices, reported Reuters.

He added: “They are very aggressive in terms of price. But we will not give up quality and safety to our customers.”

Grupo Boticario has more than 4,000 stores in Brazil and has operations in over 15 countries.

It intends to invest BRL350m to BRL400m ($80m to $92m) in 2020  compared to BRL330m in 2019.

In 2019, Grupo Boticario posted  a 9% growth in gross revenue from 2018, to BRL14.9bn.

This revenue, however, did not include Beleza na Web, an online platform for which the firm secured antitrust approval last November.

Grynbaum added: “We’ve all embraced an economic recovery, but Brazil’s growth pace still depends on the approval of key economic reforms and we must also monitor the coronavirus outbreak.”

According to Grynbaum, the firm does not rely heavily on China given that it manufactures all its cosmetics and most of its packaging in the home country.

Grynbaum added: “Only accessories come from China, but some of our suppliers here get inputs from China, so we’re still mapping the situation.”