Buying spree runs full gamut from indie brands to manufacturers and distributors
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South Korea’s beauty sector has never been a hotter deal market, with transaction volume hitting a record last year as buyers at home and abroad rushed to ride K-beauty’s global sales boom.
According to MMP, a Seoul-based financial adviser, a total of 29 transactions were completed in the cosmetics industry in 2025, with a combined value of 3.59 trillion won ($2.43 billion). The figure topped the previous high of 3.3 trillion won set in 2017, when Unilever acquired Carver Korea for roughly 3 trillion won.
Deal values have climbed steadily since 2020, rising from 242 billion won that year to 1.36 trillion won in 2022 and 2.58 trillion won in 2024.
Goodai Global was among the busiest dealmakers, paying roughly 600 billion won for Seorin Company, owner of skin care brand Round Lab, and snapping up Skinfood for 150 billion won to add to a portfolio that already counts Beauty of Joseon and TirTir.
VIG Partners acquired a cluster of aesthetic and medical beauty assets from LG Chem for 200 billion won, including filler brand Yvoire and injectable skin booster HP Vitaran.
The appetite has since spread further up the value chain. Ascent Equity Partners paid 285 billion won for C&C International, the fourth-largest original development manufacturer in the industry. US asset manager giant KKR struck a larger deal, acquiring cosmetics packaging firm Samhwa for 733 billion won, while container manufacturer Changshin was sold to Ark & Partners for 200 billion won.
Behind it all is an export boom that continues to gather momentum.
Korean cosmetics shipments rose 12.3 percent last year to $11.4 billion, the highest annual figure on record, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Small and medium-sized firms shipped a record $8.32 billion overseas, with exporting companies topping 10,000 for the first time, according to data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. First-quarter exports of $2.18 billion set another record.
Deals have kept coming in the new year. In January, for instance, Goodai Global signed to acquire a controlling stake in Hansung USA, a California-based beauty distributor, for around 100 billion won, tightening its grip on the North American market.
On dealmaking, Samil PwC noted that the K-beauty playbook is diversifying with investors spreading their bets across indie labels, distribution networks and manufacturers to capture the industry’s growth from multiple angles.
“K-beauty is shifting from a trend-driven sector to a larger market with diverse investment opportunities,” the firm said in a report, pointing to a broader expansion underway in which K-beauty branches out from skin care and color cosmetics.
minmin@heraldcorp.com