Branded, a consumer products platform and brand acquirer, has acquired digital brand creator and acquirer Heyday to form a new company Essor, meaning flight in French. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though in merging together, the overall portfolio, which includes brands like Boka and ZitSticka, has reached $400 million in annual revenue.
“This is something that we’ve been discussing for quite awhile now,” said Pierre Poignant, chief executive officer of Essor and previous cofounder and chief executive officer of Branded. “Heyday and Branded are both companies that share the same vision. We want to build a new kind of consumer product group, digitally native that acquires more brands and turns them into omnichannel, global brands.”
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While the two had been in talks for about two years, Poignant said now was the right time to bring the companies together given ongoing market changes.
“The market has dried up in terms of funding for the past two or three years. Brand owners are looking at opportunities,” he said. “All of this makes the M&A opportunity tangible and attractive.”
According to Poignant, by bringing the two companies together they have “strengthened the financial profiles of the businesses.”
Essor president and previous Heyday CEO and cofounder Sebastian Rymarz added that they had looked at merger opportunities in the past.
“The market opportunity is just too large.…We’re talking to many more entrepreneurs that want to sell today than a year ago,” he said noting that by joining forces the team will be able to better attack this need.
Up until now, the portfolios across both companies have been heavily focused in the health, wellness and beauty space, including brands like Boka, which has grown from $8 million in annual revenue to $50 million thanks to its acquisition; ZitSticka, which has experienced 50 percent year-over-year growth; FreshCap, which has experienced 160 percent year-over-year growth; Puracy, which has sold more than 20 million bottles of its cleaning products; Viking Revolution, which is approaching $40 million in annual revenue, and Ototo, which has grown 200 percent since acquisition.
“When you look at most of the acquisitions we’ve done across both groups, we usually acquire businesses that have reached at least $10 million in revenue. They have built a community around them,” said Ben Kaminski, chairman and previous cofounder and chairman of Branded. “The reason there’s a lot of focus around health and wellness…is because we believe there’s usually a community behind them already.”
In terms of strategy, the group is focused on four growth levers including new product development, global expansion, omnichannel strategy and digital native brand building, which have all been core to each company’s growth. The company aims to keep founders on board, in some capacity.
