AmorePacific teams up with A.S. Watson Group to boost European growth

By

Sarah Ahssen

Published
Feb 27, 2019

Looking to accelerate the growth of its brands in Europe and Asia, South Korean beauty giant AmorePacific has entered into a strategic partnership with A.S.Watson Group. The Hong Kong-based specialist in health, beauty, fragrance and cosmetics distribution is a subsidiary of the CK Hutchison Group, which also owns French cosmetics retailer Marionnaud. AmorePacific is above all looking to benefit from the global popularity of K-beauty to build its presence in Europe, where, according to A.S. Watson, the sector saw growth of 122% last year. 

Brands in AmorePacific's portfolio include LaNeige, Innisfree and Annick Goutal. The company gave a boost to its European expansion last year with the introduction of its premium flagship brand Sulwhasoo to Galeries Lafayette's Boulevard Haussmann store in Paris. With A.S. Watson's support, AmorePacific is notably hoping to drive the growth of its natural Mamonde label in Europe, a brand that A.S. Watson already distributes in China,  and which is currently being rolled out in other Asian markets along with haircare labels RYO and Mise-En-Scene. 

Aside from the development of AmorePacific's distribution network in Europe and Asia, where the two companies have already begun their collaboration, further opportunities for cooperation are currently being studied, as explained to FashionNetwork.com by A.S. Watson Group, which operates in 25 markets through 12 banners including Rossmann and Watson. At present, the group has a total of 14,9000 points of sale around the world. 

In 2018, AmorePacific reported sales of 5.37 billion won (4.1 billion euros), an increase of 3% year over year. The company, which makes 70% of its revenues on its home market, does not publish detailed regional financial results but did highlight that its sales in Europe had declined due to the loss of the Lolita Lempicka fragrance licence in December 2016.