4.2 billion. Is the largest acquisition in the hair and body care sector on the way?
"In the past two years, many listed companies have been entering the hair care and washing market." When talking about the current incremental markets and product categories, many capital investors have pointed out that the hair care market has become a major business opportunity valued by leading domestic and international enterprises.
As of the second half of 2025, the popularity of this field continues to rise. Since the beginning of this year alone, there have been continuous investment, financing, and acquisition cases in the hair care market. Internationally, a few days ago, global beauty giant L'Oréal Group officially announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire the hair care brand Color Wow, and the brand will be under the Professional Hair Products Division. Domestically, last month, Kidswant joined hands with Giant Biogene to acquire the domestic hair care chain brand Siyu at a price of 1.65 billion yuan.
Currently, another acquisition in the hair care field has caught the attention of industry insiders. Yesterday (July 7th), according to globalcosmeticsnews, the world - renowned investment firm and US private equity firm Blackstone (hereinafter referred to as: Blackstone) intends to acquire South Korea's largest high - end salon chain, Juno Hair, for $590 million (approximately 4.233 billion yuan). The report shows that the transaction is in negotiation.
△Source: globalcosmeticsnews
In addition, the Korea Economic Daily reported that the proposed transaction value is 20 times its EBITDA, and such a premium is rare among South Korean beauty salon franchise enterprises. If the transaction is successful, this deal will become one of the largest acquisitions in South Korea's personal care service industry, which has always lacked scalable franchise models.
Why are capital investors making large - scale acquisitions this time? From the competition among giants to the actions of capital, why has the hair care field become so popular?
Will a 4.2 - billion - yuan acquisition become the largest in South Korea's personal care industry?
Looking at the rumored acquisition target, according to its official website, Juno Hair was founded in 1982. Its product portfolio includes the wedding beauty flagship store Avenue Juno, the in - house training institution Juno Academy, and the proprietary hair care series Tria Milia. It has now become a leading force in South Korea's personal care market, with more than 180 salons and over 3,000 employees.
△Source: Korea Economic Daily
In terms of performance, last year's sales revenue was approximately 300 billion won (approximately 1.572 billion yuan), and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were 37 billion won (approximately 194 million yuan).
According to the Korea Economic Daily, the acquisition will include all the businesses of Juno Hair Group. In terms of valuation, Juno Hair's valuation is comparable to that of global salon brands such as Vidal Sassoon (acquired at 20 times EBITDA, with a valuation of approximately 7.2 billion yuan). It should be noted that, according to a source, among several global private equity fund groups (including KKR, TPG, etc.), Blackstone is the most active group in exploring the acquisition of the South Korean beauty group.
As mentioned in the previous report, the proposed valuation of Blackstone's acquisition of Juno Hair is more than 20 times its EBITDA, which is extremely high for South Korea's salon industry.
A source from an investment bank said that Blackstone hopes to acquire all the shares held by the founder and CEO of Juno Hair and their affiliated parties. As the largest shareholder, Juno Hair CEO Kang Yun - seon is considering continuing to participate in management by retaining some minority shares. However, whether to retain the minority shares is still under discussion.
△Juno Hair CEO Kang Yun - seon Source: Maeil Business Newspaper
In terms of the acquisition scale, as mentioned above, if the transaction is successful, this deal will become one of the largest acquisitions in South Korea's personal care service industry.
Although the memorandum of understanding has not been signed yet, according to a person close to the negotiation, Blackstone has expressed its intention to turn Juno Hair into "one of the world's largest salon franchises."
In addition, in the above - mentioned report, a merger and acquisition advisor based in Seoul said, "Considering the size and maturity of the domestic market, this is an extremely unusual valuation multiple. From the perspective of the transaction purpose, Blackstone seems to be betting on Juno Hair's international expansion ability."
Combined with the report content, this seems to coincide with Kang Yun - seon's current key plan - international expansion. He has previously stated that he wants to turn Juno Hair into "the South Korean Vidal Sassoon."
Specifically, according to NH Perspective, Juno Hair opened its first store in the Philippines in January 2023 and two stores in Singapore at the beginning of 2025. The Korea Economic Daily reported that a source said that the branch of Juno Hair in the Philippines opened last year, with 20 stylists, sales of 2 billion won (approximately 10.48 million yuan), and an operating profit of 1 billion won (approximately 5.24 million yuan).
People familiar with the matter said that for Juno Hair, Blackstone's capital and global network can accelerate the brand's growth in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North America. For Blackstone, this deal will be a continuation of its strategy (betting on overseas expansion), which is to support South Korean mid - sized companies with strong cross - border growth potential.
In addition, it is worth noting that NH Perspective also pointed out that the logic behind the acquisition is that the acquirer positions Juno Hair as a "K - Beauty hair care platform" supported by the South Korean beauty industry system and educational infrastructure, rather than just a chain salon brand.
Combined with the previous mention that the valuation is comparable to that of Vidal Sassoon and that this deal will mark one of the largest acquisitions in South Korea's personal care service industry, it can be seen that the capital market has also set its sights on the hair care field. From the perspective of the purpose, it is related to its expansion and investment strategy. Of course, capital is profit - seeking, and the occurrence of this high - value or large - scale acquisition case is also related to the current popularity and growth potential of the hair care field.
Will the hair care market targeted by domestic and international giants become a new trend?
From the perspective of market size and development prospects, the hair care market targeted by domestic and international giants and capital investors has promising prospects. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global shampoo market will experience significant growth, is expected to rise from $34.46 billion (approximately 247.185 billion yuan) in 2023 to $56.54 billion (approximately 405.567 billion yuan) in 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.71% during this period.
As the market size continues to expand, more and more players are entering the market. When L'Oréal, Proya, and other brands are trying their best to compete for market share in the hair care market, it means that the hair care field may face a new round of competition. So, in this round of competition, what are the differences in the approaches of domestic and international giants? Will the competitive landscape of the hair care market change?
Focusing on the international perspective, according to incomplete statistics by Jumeili, there have been six acquisition and investment cases in the hair care and washing market since 2025. It is worth noting that in the investment in this field, the leading investors include the investment departments of beauty giants such as Unilever and LVMH Group.
Previously mentioned, international beauty giant L'Oréal acquired the hair care brand Color Wow at the end of June and included it in its Professional Hair Products Division (see details). So far, the number of brands in this division has increased to 10. L'Oréal said that this will further strengthen its professional hair care product portfolio and enhance its global growth potential.
In terms of performance, the sales of L'Oréal Group's Professional Hair Products Division have increased for four consecutive years. In 2021, the growth rate was 24.8%, and in 2024, the hair care category became the second - largest growth segment of the group (after perfume).
Looking at the actions of other international players, we can also see their emphasis on the hair care business. For example, in March 2025, according to Business of Beauty, Oneskin, a longevity beauty brand founded by four Brazilian scientists in 2021, entered the hair care business. The brand's CEO said that he hopes to serve customers who are experiencing the aging process and explore the significance of solving hair loss and aging.
Whether it is investment, acquisition, or the development of hair care business, it can be seen that international beauty enterprises are optimistic about and attach importance to the hair care market. Domestic cosmetics enterprises have also set their sights on the hair care market. Different from international enterprises, domestic enterprises mostly enter or increase their investment in the market by launching new hair care brands. Since 2024, as shown in the figure below, at least five new hair care brands have been launched. In early 2024, Juvias Group officially took over the Chinese business of Phyto, completing the leap from the makeup to the hair care market.
In terms of the domestic market size, according to data from the LeadLeo Research Institute, the market size of China's hair care and washing market has steadily increased from 43.39 billion yuan in 2017 to 65.5 billion yuan in 2023 and is expected to reach 82.79 billion yuan in 2027.
In addition, looking at the performance of domestic hair care brands, the hair care business of Juvias Group increased by 72% in the second half of 2024. In 2024, the high - end hair care brand Phyto achieved high double - digit growth. The revenue of Off&Relax (OR), a hair care brand under Proya, was 368 million yuan in 2024, a year - on - year increase of 71.14%, ranking second among its self - owned brands in terms of growth rate.
△Source: Proya's financial report
In addition, data released by JD.com in 2025 showed that the attention to the topic of "scalp care" increased by 749%. From these data, it is not difficult to see that there is room for growth in the domestic hair care market.
However, from the current situation where domestic and international leading enterprises are competing to enter and increase their investment in the market, there is also competitive pressure. For domestic brands to break through and quickly capture market share, the underlying logic and strategies need to change. They need to find the potential niche markets in the current hair care market and build their own differentiated advantages. To sum it up in one sentence: "More and more brands are entering the market, trying to reinvent the hair care market with the logic of efficacy."
As a result, we have seen the emergence of hair care products with skin - care - level quality. In addition, brands are also innovating based on the logic of efficacy, no longer limited to the traditional fields of anti - dandruff, oil control, and hair volumizing, but turning to innovation in scalp care.
Whether it is Half Acre Garden, which announced its full - scale entry into the hair care and washing market this year and plans to launch its first sub - brand, 97 Lab (focusing on the scalp micro - ecosystem hair care market), or the positioning of new hair care brands launched by Proya, Freda, etc. last year, one of the directions is to focus on the research and maintenance of the scalp micro - ecosystem and develop the scalp micro - ecosystem care field.
In the view of an unnamed senior industry insider, this is one of the most promising innovation directions in the scalp care field. In addition to the scalp care field, hair management, including anti - hair loss, remains a growth opportunity.
From the market perspective, the "In - depth Analysis of the Current Situation and Development Strategy Research Report of China's Anti - Hair Loss Product Industry (2023 - 2030)" shows that from 2018 to 2022, the market size of China's anti - hair loss products increased from 2.332 billion yuan to 7.636 billion yuan and is expected to reach 18.393 billion yuan in 2030.
Yan Ming, the managing partner of Xiuyuan Capital, also mentioned in an exchange with Jumeili, "I think scalp and hair management (skin care) is one of the potential growth tracks in the future. Now Chinese consumers have many anxieties. There are a large number of men with hair loss, and women are worried about the receding hairline, widening hairline, and postpartum hair loss. In the past, the requirements for hair care were mainly oil control and anti - dandruff. Now, I think we have entered the 3.0 or even 4.0 era: how to do scalp and hair care?"
"This is already very mature abroad, with brands such as Kérastase and Aveda. China is also gradually starting. In the past two years, all listed companies have been entering this market. Of course, whether they can succeed is another matter."
In the view of the above - mentioned unnamed senior industry insider, "The competition in the scalp care market is not that fierce. Even if scalp care brands extend based on the differentiation of their main concepts, it is very likely to succeed."
It is foreseeable that the hair care market, which has attracted the attention of domestic and international leading beauty enterprises and capital investors, has great potential. Maybe soon, a certain brand will stand out. However, with the intensification of competition, the pattern of the hair care market will also change.