Ulta Beauty, Inc. has acquired Space NK Limited, a leading British beauty retailer, from Manzanita Capital. This comes after Manzanita Capital announced the possible sale of Space NK last year.
The British retailer is a curator of innovative beauty brands and a go-to destination for beauty discovery, with 83 stores in the UK and Ireland, as well as an online presence.
Kecia Steelman, president and CEO of Ulta Beauty, said,
“We are excited to enter the UK market via the Space NK banner. International expansion is an integral part of our Ulta Beauty Unleashed plan, and the acquisition of Space NK offers a unique and strategically compelling opportunity to enter the growing UK market with a successful and growing brand. Along with our initiatives in Mexico and the Middle East, we are creating a broader platform for Ulta Beauty to unlock long-term, profitable growth.”
Space NK will operate as a standalone subsidiary of Ulta Beauty and will continue to be led by its existing management team, including Andy Lightfoot, Chief Executive Officer of Space NK.
CEO Andy Lightfoot said,
“We have long respected Ulta Beauty as the leading specialty beauty retailer in the U.S. We are energized and excited by the opportunity to join Ulta Beauty and benefit from its scale, brand relationships, and resources to further fuel our mission to serve beauty-obsessed consumers through expertise and innovation.”
The purchase of Space NK was made in cash on hand and capacity under Ulta Beauty’s existing credit facility. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
How do you feel about this acquisition? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment below.
hopefully will be a good thing allowing us Brits to access some of the products that ordinarily we would have to spend big bucks on shipping to get hold of but on the other hand, i would hate the acquisition to ruin the current successful set up of SpaceNK, big corps from US seem to have a habit of dragging good companies down when buying them!