Augustinus Bader, the skincare label co-founded by a former BTG Pactual banker, is on track to grow by as much as 40 percent this year as the upstart brand shrugs off a slowdown in high-end cosmetics.

Despite cooling demand for premium skincare brands at bigger beauty groups such as L’Oréal SA or Estée Lauder Cos, Augustinus Bader is benefiting from its image as a “new cool kid on the block,” whose clientele in the US in particular is very loyal, co-founder Charles Rosier said in an interview.

A 1.7 ounce (50 ml) bottle of the brand’s “it” product, The Rich Cream, sells for about $300 at Sephora. The US represents its biggest market, generating about 60 percent of sales, Rosier said.

Augustinus Bader’s products, presented in blue and copper-coloured packaging, have been endorsed by Hollywood celebrities such as Melanie Griffith, who initially invested in the brand along with her former husband Don Johnson. Founded in 2018, the brand carries the name of its other co-founder, Augustinus Bader, whose research at the University of Leipzig in Germany led him to create a gel to treat burnt skin, Rosier explained.

The founders and French businessman Jacques Veyrat own a majority of the company’s capital, Rosier said. Other investors include billionaire telecoms entrepreneur Xavier Niel, Antoine Arnault, who heads image and communication at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, and Diageo Plc Chairman Javier Ferran, Rosier said.

Veyrat is in exclusive talks to sell the renewable energy company Neoen SA, and stands to pocket €2.6 billion from the transaction.

Augustinus Bader’s net sales should range between $130 million and $140 million this year, up from about $100 million in 2023, said Rosier. The former partner at Brazil’s BTG Pactual sees the company’s Ebidta at about $15 million in 2024.

The brand doesn’t have financial constraints and the owners are in no rush to sell, Rosier said, though he didn’t rule it out in the future. “If at some point it could accelerate growth and we could use the help of a bigger group, and it’s in the interest of all shareholders to do it, then why not?” he said.

By Angelina Rascouet

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