Should Henkel Buy Olaplex?

1 week ago 12

The fiscal assemblage is weighing the pros and cons of a imaginable acquisition of hairsbreadth attraction marque Olaplex by Henkel AG.

It is successful effect to a Bloomberg study published Wednesday that Germany’s Henkel has projected a takeover connection for Olaplex Holdings Inc., based successful New York.

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Due to market-share losses and anemic integrated growth, Olaplex’s banal has declined much than 90 percent since the radical went nationalist successful September 2021 connected the Nasdaq. But the banal soared yesterday connected Bloomberg’s speculation, closing Wednesday up 22.2 percent.

At noon ET Thursday, Olaplex’s banal was trading up 0.3 percent to $1.66. The company’s marketplace capitalization is $1.09 billion.

Meanwhile, Henkel banal had risen 1.5 percent to 69.70 euros.

According to Bloomberg, the woody could hap wrong weeks, though it is not definite to travel to fruition. The quality outlet estimated backstage equity interest Advent International is Olaplex’s largest shareholder, with astir a 75 percent stake.

“We bash spot Henkel looking to widen its beingness successful hairsbreadth care, diluting its vulnerability to location attraction and gathering connected a user part that has been restructured implicit the past 3 years,” Ashley Helgans, an equity expert astatine Jefferies, wrote successful a note.

The slope had earlier this week flagged Henkel’s imaginable involvement successful Wella, which is present owned by KKR.

“That would beryllium a larger hairsbreadth attraction scale-up, but is not precluded if Henkel was to successfully adjacent connected Olaplex,” Helgans continued. “Henkel mightiness consciousness it tin leverage its wider planetary transmission beingness much effectively. International presently represents astir 50 percent of Olaplex nett sales.”

Bernstein is little bullish connected a deal, however.

“While the super-prestige hairsbreadth class is attractive, Olaplex’s circumstantial challenges and Henkel’s ain execution issues marque this imaginable acquisition risky,” wrote Ivan Holman, user assemblage specializer astatine Bernstein.

This each comes arsenic quality gears up to person a engaged M&A twelvemonth successful 2026, pursuing an uptick successful deals during 2025.

In precocious August 2025, for instance, Olaplex announced its acquisition of Purvala Bioscience, a biotech institution based successful Boston. L’Oréal, E.l.f. and Ulta were among different groups making large purchases successful the space.

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