List: The Aussie lifestyle brands acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars in 2023

Source: Zimmermann

International companies and investment groups have acquired some of Australia’s most prominent brand names in 2023, even as broader macroeconomic uncertainty rattles global markets.

Through a compelling mix of quality, marketability, and serious business nous, here are just some of the brands to have been picked up by global interests in 2023.

Bondi Sands

The sun is shining on Bondi Sands, the Australian producer of self-tanning and SPF products, which has just announced its acquisition by the multinational Kao Group, in a deal reported to be worth $450 million.

Founded in 2012 and inspired by the quintessential image of the Aussie beach experience, Bondi Sands is now tracking towards $200 million in revenue through the 2023 financial year, says co-founder Shaun Wilson.

You can read SmartCompany‘s chat with Wilson about the deal and what comes next here.

The Bondi Sands co-founders. Source: Supplied

Zimmermann

Australian fashion label Zimmermann is reportedly negotiating with global private equity firm Advent International on an acquisition deal valuing the brand at $1.75 billion.

Should the deal take place, the designer label will instantly become one of the most valuable locally-born fashion brands of all time.

Not that it isn’t already an economic powerhouse: a 2020 deal that saw Milan’s Style Capital take a 70% stake in the brand valued it at a cool $600 million.

A fine sum for a brand siblings launched by Nicky and Simone Zimmermann in Sydney’s Darlinghurst in 1992.

Aesop

The $3.7 billion acquisition of Melbourne-born skincare label Aesop is a fable in its own right.

French powerhouse L’Oréal sealed the deal in April, bringing it into the same pantheon as skincare, haircare, and cosmetics brands Kiehl’s, Garnier, and Yves Saint Laurent Beauté.

Founded in 1987 by hairdresser Dennis Paphitis, Aesop came to define a new kind of skincare experience: refined, minimalistic, packed with plant-based ingredients, and sold in calming, organic-looking retail spaces unlike any other.

Aesop’s store on Collins Street, Melbourne. Source: Aesop

Four Pillars

Craft gin is a shining light in the Australian distilling scene, and no brand represents its success so clearly as Four Pillars.

Tucked away in Healesville, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, the formerly independent distillery made a name for itself by churning out high quality gin capable of competing with the world’s best.

While consumers were enamoured with releases like its Bloody Shiraz gin, its business dealings were no less potent.

Global beverage giant Lion acquired a 50% stake in the business in 2019, with Lion acquiring the remainder in July this year.

The initial deal was thought to have cost Lion $40 million, with recent reports suggesting the second half cost somewhere in the vicinity of $50 million.

Four Pillars distillery in Healesville, Victoria. Source: supplied

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