Olaplex files for IPO and reveals plans to expand into skincare

Haircare brand Olaplex has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) and registered its ambition to expand beyond hair and into other beauty and wellness categories.

The brand, which will list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “OLPX,” posted a 260% rise in direct to consumer sales between 2019 and 2020.

It offers nine complementary products, all of which feature unique bond building technology and patent-protected ingredients, to repair and restore damaged and ageing hair.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.

Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Barclays are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the proposed offering.

In its Registration Statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Olaplex said: “Our proprietary, patent-protected ingredient “Bis-amino” serves as the common thread across our products and is a key differentiator in our ability to create trusted, high-quality products.

“Underpinning our product range is a portfolio of more than 100 patents which protect our proprietary technology.

“We also are well positioned to expand into the $633bn beauty and personal care category by leveraging our differentiated technology platform, and we believe consumers would be interested in Olaplex product offerings in other beauty categories, such as skincare, a $140 billion global category.

“We intend to utilize our innovation expertise to enter adjacent categories and create clean, healthy solutions for the broader personal care needs of our consumers.

"We are confident that our deep connection with our consumer community, which has driven significant engagement as we launch new haircare products, will allow us to expand into beauty and wellness categories in the future.”

The brand’s recent “significant and rapid growth” has also been propelled by the specialty retail channel (principally Sephora) with its specialty retail channel having grown 75% between 2019 to 2020, representing 18% of its 2020 total net sales.

Total net sales increased from $148.2m in 2019 to $282.3m in 2020.