L'Oréal Announces Agreement to Acquire a Majority Stake in Innovist, India's Leading Digital-First Personal Care Company

Strategic Expansion in India: This investment reinforces L'Oréal's commitment to the Indian market, accelerating its strategy to scale and lead in one of the world's fastest-growing beauty markets.

Complementary Brand Portfolio: Innovist's digital-first brands naturally complement L'Oréal's existing portfolio, offering science-backed, high-performance products tailored to the needs of Indian consumers.

Continuity in Operations: The agreement ensures the continuity of Innovist's founding team's expertise and entrepreneurial spirit.

Paris, France – June 18, 2024 – L'Oréal Group, the world's largest cosmetics manufacturer, announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Innovist, a leading personal care brand house in India. This strategic move is a significant step in L'Oréal's expansion in the rapidly growing Indian beauty industry, complementing its portfolio by adding local brands tailored to the needs of Indian consumers.

Founded in 2019 by Rohit Chawla, Sifat Khurana, and Vimal Chopra, Innovist is one of India's fastest-growing digital-first personal care companies with a science-backed approach. The company boasts popular and fast-growing brands such as 'Bare Anatomy' and 'Chemist at Play,' focusing on clean formulations and ingredient transparency, supported by strong in-house R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Innovist's popular skincare and haircare products are distributed through its D2C platform, major e-commerce and quick commerce channels, as well as offline retail partners across India.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Innovist founding team will remain as minority shareholders and will continue to operate and grow the business in collaboration with L'Oréal India. Innovist's brands will join the portfolio of L'Oréal's Consumer Products Division.

Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'Oréal Group, stated:

"This investment in an innovative Indian startup clearly demonstrates our unwavering commitment to expanding our business in India. By combining L'Oréal's world-class global expertise with Innovist's science-backed, high-performance product range and deep understanding of Indian consumers, we are confident that we can shape the future of beauty together in this dynamic market."

Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oréal's Consumer Products Division, stated:

"India is one of the most exciting and rapidly evolving beauty markets in the world, and this partnership places us at the heart of that momentum. For the Consumer Products Division, this is a significant milestone and reflects our high ambitions and commitment to this wonderful market."

Javier San Juan, Country Manager of L'Oréal India, stated:

"Innovist has built brands with special value here in India. By combining the strengths of both companies, we aim to make L'Oréal even more accessible to the next generation of Indian consumers who are digital natives."

Rohit Chawla, CEO and Founder of Innovist, stated:

"We founded Innovist with the strong belief that Indian consumers have the right to beauty products that guarantee formulation transparency and are based on genuine science, and that these can be manufactured in India according to global standards. The partnership with L'Oréal stems from a deep resonance in this vision and product philosophy. We are confident that by gaining access to L'Oréal's global scientific innovation resources, we can further expand our ambitions. By joining forces, we will unlock a great opportunity to build the next generation of beauty brands."

Sifat Khurana, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), stated:

"We launched Innovist for consumers like myself, without compromise or shortcuts. That strong passion has today culminated in a partnership with the world's largest beauty company, marking the beginning of a new and bigger chapter in the Indian cosmetics industry."

Vimal Chopra, Co-founder and Chief R&D Scientist, stated:

"At Innovist, we have cultivated a corporate culture rooted in rigorous science since our inception. We share a deeply ingrained foundation in our business with L'Oréal and hold a common vision for the future of beauty through the power of science."

L'Oréal plans to include Innovist's results in its consolidated financial statements from the closing date of this agreement. As part of this agreement, L'Oréal also secures the right to fully acquire the minority shareholders' stake in the future.

The transaction is expected to be completed within the next few months, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy L'Oréal shares. For more comprehensive information about L'Oréal, please refer to the public documents registered with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (French Financial Markets Authority). These documents are available in English on our website at www.loreal-finance.com. This press release may contain forward-looking statements. We believe these statements are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date of this press release, but by their nature, these statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ from those stated or implied.

About L'Oréal Group For 117 years, L'Oréal has been dedicated to the beauty and cosmetics industry, meeting the aspirations and needs of consumers worldwide. Our purpose, "Creating the Beauty that Moves the World," comprehensively expresses our approach to beauty, contributing to society and the environment in a sustainable, inclusive, ethical, and generous manner. Through our diverse and extensive portfolio of 40 international brands and our "L'Oréal for the Future" program for sustainable development and environmental protection, we celebrate the infinite diversity of beauty and deliver the highest standards of quality, efficacy, safety, integrity, and responsibility to people everywhere. We employ over 90,000 employees, with a geographically balanced presence and distribution across all channels (e-commerce, mass market, department stores, pharmacies, hair salons, brand boutiques, and travel retail). In 2023, the Group's sales reached €44.05 billion. With 21 R&D and research centers in 13 countries worldwide, over 4,000 scientists, and more than 8,000 digital professionals, L'Oréal prioritizes creating the future of beauty and driving beauty technology.

In 2023, L'Oréal Group was named "Most Innovative Company" among 300 European companies by Fortune magazine, across 16 industries and 21 European countries.

For more information, please visit https://www.loreal.com/en/mediaroom.