Estée Lauder Companies to buy Too Faced

US-based cosmetics firm The Estée Lauder Companies has signed an agreement to acquire make-up brand Too Faced.

Too Faced is a specialty-multi and online brand founded in 1998 by Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson. The company is also currently being led by chief executive officer Eric Hohl.

The brand's Instagram page has more than 7.3 million followers. It is expected to reach net sales of more than $270m, which represents a growth of more than 70% for the year and 60% compounded annually over the past three years.

Since 2015, Too Faced has been a part of the portfolio of a growth equity firm General Atlantic. The Estée Lauder Companies has signed an agreement to buy the entities that own Too Faced for a purchase price of around $1.45bn. This deal is expected to close in December.

The Estée Lauder Companies' president and chief executive officer Fabrizio Freda said: “Too Faced is one of the most dynamic makeup brands in the world.

“It has tremendous growth momentum in specialty-multi and online, which are important, strategic and fast-growing channels. With Too Faced, we see terrific opportunity for additional value creation through expansion in new and existing markets both in the US and internationally, as well as in travel retail globally.

"Jeremy, Jerrod, Eric, and the entire Too Faced team have built an amazing and innovative brand. We look forward to working with them to continue to build on the brand’s winning spirit.”

Too Faced's founders Johnson and Blandino said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with The Estée Lauder Companies as we continue to drive Too Faced’s dynamic growth. We started our careers behind the counters of the Estée Lauder brand, so this is truly a ‘homecoming’ for us.

"The Estée Lauder Companies appreciates our unique vision to provide innovative, cruelty-free makeup products that give women the confidence to ‘have fun, play and dream big’ and is committed to ensuring that we retain and build on the core pillars of our brand that are so important to us and our fans.

"This commitment, combined with ELC’s incredible world-class resources, will help us assure the ongoing growth and success of Too Faced for many years to come.”