Coty to acquire 20% stake in Kim Kardashian's beauty line KKW

Global beauty group Coty is set to acquire a 20% stake in Kim Kardashian West's beauty brand KKW.

The deal would value the business at $1bn, which is just shy of the $1.2bn valuation that Coty applied to her half sister Kylie Jenner's brand when it acquired a 51% majority stake in that business for $600m last year.

Kardashian West launched her beauty line in 2017, two years after Kylie Cosmetics was launched (the pair have collaborated on beauty products), and its line up covers products for body, face, lips and eyes as well as tools and fragrance. A move into skincare by KKW is anticipated later this year, while Kylie Skin was launched last month.

The deal, which was first reported by the Financial Times, further underscores that value that investors place on the Kardashian and Jenner family's selling power and in personality-led beauty brands.

Coty later confirmed the news with its CEO Peter Hart saying: “Kim is a true modern day global icon.”

Recently British make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury sold her eponymous beauty brand to Spanish group Puig in a deal which valued it at £1bn while luxury conglomerate LVMH backs music artist and entrepreneur Rihanna's Fenty Beauty line.

It also signifies major groups' backing of the direct-to-consumer model which has been championed by upstart beauty brands, who have challenged the old guard in beauty with their approach to market. These brands are often backed by a large social media presence and Kim Kardashian is one of the most powerful personalities on Instagram with 177m followers, compared to Kylie Jenner's 182m.

Kardashian West's husband, the rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West, has also registered the trademark for his Yeezy brand for a number of beauty, grooming and skincare categories. West creates his own Yeezy apparel line along with trainers in partnership with Adidas. On Friday it was revealed that he has signed a partnership with global fashion group Gap to create Yeezy Gap. 

Coty's portfolio includes cosmetics lines such as Covergirl, Rimmel and Bourjois, while it also produces beauty and fragrance products under license for big names such as Burberry, Gucci and Chloe.