Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Mamaearth and The Derma Co, said in a statement on Monday that the company has bought BBlunt salons, operated by Bhabani Blunt Hair Dressing Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), and BBlunt, a hair colour and styling products brand owned by GCPL for Rs 134 crore to make forays into hair color and hairstyling category.
As a part of the transaction, GCPL will be getting Rs 84.5 crore after it divests its 100% stake in BBlunt brand, and the 30% stake that it owns in BBlunt salons. The rest of the proceeds will go to other shareholders including the BBlunt founding team.
Honasa Consumer said post the acquisition, BBlunt hair care and styling products business will be completely owned and managed by Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, while BBlunt salon business will continue to operate as an independent entity. BBlunt salons’ founding team Adhuna Bhabani, Osh Bhabani and Avan Contractor will continue as Creative Directors of the company, and Spoorthy Shetty as Chief Executive Officer, Honasa Consumer said.
BBlunt salons’ acquisition comes at a time when the pandemic-led lockdowns that have now lasted for over 20 months, have crippled demand for the salon business. BBlunt, founded by Adhuna Bhabani and Ashoke Bhabani in late 1990s, had initially started as a salon business, and had then added beauty and styling products to its portfolio. The brand has been endorsed by several Indian film industry actors. BBlunt has products like hair colors, shampoos, dry shampoos, conditioners, styling products, serums and temporary hair colors. BBlunt said that the hair color and hairstyling category market is estimated to be worth Rs 6,000 crore. Honasa Consumer said that it can strengthen BBlunt’s D2C (direct-to-customer) and e-commerce businesses.
“Honasa is a strong player in the direct-to-consumer (and) e-commerce space and they see great potential in the brand and the salon heritage that we have. We, the team, are very excited to see what the future holds in this exciting new chapter for the brand,” said Adhuna Bhabani, Founder and Director, BBlunt.
Honasa Consumer, which recently joined the coveted unicorn club (private companies with over $1 billion valuation), has been on an acquisition spree as the company is eyeing to build a ‘house of brands,’ a strategy that is fast gaining traction of late. In December, Honasa Consumer had bought content platform Momspresso in a bid to expand its consumer engagement strategies. The company, which counts Sequoia Capital among its backers, had also recently reported a net profit of Rs 24.6 crore for FY21 against a net loss of Rs 5.9 crore in 2019-20 (FY20), VCCircle had reported.
“Being a house of brands, Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd has attained expertise in building millennial brands with a digital-first approach. We will utilize our expertise and proficiency in digital marketing to accelerate the growth and scale of BBlunt. Since the brands synergize on fundamental principles and strong millennial connect, we are confident that BBlunt will be a great addition to the Honasa Consumer portfolio,” said Varun Alagh, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd.
