International investment bank, DC Advisory, released its latest Beauty Report, detailing the global mergers & acquisitions (M&A) trends shaping the future of beauty.

The Beauty sector has long been an attractive and dynamic M&A sector for investment. While levels have since moderated from the post-COVID M&A boom M&A trends are driving activity for buyer groups across multiple subsectors.

M&A Trends & Activity 

• Science-backed innovation is driving activity in skincare – the most active Beauty subsector over the past two years.
• Beauty has been one of the most resilient consumer categories as it relates to global M&A, and the impact of geopolitical factors.
• The appetite for beauty assets remains strong in the U.S. and Europe as investors seek to shape portfolios, whilst consolidation is driving activity in Asia, with a focus on India and South Korea.
• Optimist for beauty M&A as we head into Q4 2025, and 2026.

Given its size and mature market fundamentals, the U.S. Beauty market remains attractive for investors. DC Advisory anticipates steady interest in domestic U.S. brands from overseas players looking to enter the U.S. market, seeking M&A opportunities to tap into existing capabilities.

With household names like Church & Dwight, e.l.f., L’Oréal, and Unilever making $500 million bets, the resurgence of strategic activity in the US is very encouraging and reinforces that the path towards strategic sales is still there.

Luc-Henry Rousselle, Managing Director on DC Advisory’s Consumer, Leisure and Retail team, commented, 

“The recent resurgence of strategic activity is underpinned by a focus strong brand equity, strategic fit as well as a healthy balance of growth and profitability. We expect to see more activity in the premium skincare and fragrance space in the near term. Furthermore, we see a continued interest in the beauty supply chain, particularly for quality CMOs in the skincare and haircare space as some investors are looking to gain exposure to the beauty industry without taking single brand risk and see an opportunity to consolidate in this fragmented space.”

Going forward, the Beauty market will continue to be attractive for strategic and private equity investors. The high-profile M&A activity of 2025 sets a strong foundation for 2026, supported by persistent consumer trends. As younger consumers drive demand, new-age brands will continue scaling at pace to serve unmet consumer needs and drive innovation.

Leveraging social media to appeal to younger consumers will remain a marketing priority for brands. A recent survey showed that 22% of respondents discovered new beauty trends via social media, and 27% have bought beauty and skincare products through these platforms.

Improving consumer accessibility to beauty brands and trends, not only through the online retail algorithm but through the expansion of premium retailers in the UK – seen recently with Space NK under new ownership by Ulta – will also remain a priority.

Markets in Demand

Among the subsectors, skincare remains the most active. Globally, 10 of the 27 deals completed in 2025 YTD have been skincare-related, in keeping with the ratio from the past two years.

Fragrance remains one of the most active subsectors in Beauty behind skincare, with four transactions announced YTD driven by underlying subsector dynamics, such as increasing consumer interest, innovation, and the boom of niche fragrance brands.

Haircare remains one of the most active subsectors in Beauty behind skincare, with four transactions announced YTD, equal to fragrance.

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