Honasa Consumer, the parent company of D2C unicorn Mamaearth, has acquired BBLUNT, a premium hair care, hair colour and styling products brand from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). The deal is worth Rs 134 crore, according to people close to the developments.
BBlunt salons’ acquisition comes at a time when the pandemic-led lockdowns that have now lasted for over 20 months, have crippled demand for the salon business. The deal also includes BBLUNT salons operated by Bhabani Blunt Hair Dressing. Founded by Adhuna and Ashoke Bhabani over two decades back, BBLUNT’s strength lies in its extensive experience of styling Bollywood celebrities and transferring the salon experience into consumer products.
The brand’s product portfolio currently consists of hair colours, shampoos, dry shampoos, conditioners, styling products, serums and temporary hair colours. The product insights have come from stylists and consumer interactions and tested in the salon on real consumers – to build a product line crafted especially for Indian hair, weather, and water conditions.
Mamaearth said the size of the deal is about Rs 134 crore. In a separate filing to the BSE on Monday, GCPL said it will receive a total of Rs 84.5 crore for its divestment of BBlunt. This includes Rs 25.7 crore for its stake in the company and Rs 58.8 crore from brand rights. “The transaction is subject to a certain condition precedent and is expected to be completed on or before March 14, 2022,” the filing said.
Explaining the rationale behind the deal, he said, “Hair colour and styling is a very fast-growing business and we didn’t have a presence (in it). These brands have a deep-rooted link with salons – L’oreal, for example. BBlunt products are recommended by experts in salons. [BBlunt] will add a new dimension to our existing bouquet of brands.”
“Honasa is a strong player in the direct-to-consumer (and) e-commerce space and they see great potential in the brand and the salon heritage that we have. We, the team, are very excited to see what the future holds in this exciting new chapter for the brand,” said Adhuna Bhabani, Founder and Director, BBlunt.
Founded in 2016, Honasa serves over 5 million consumers across 500 Indian cities. It closed FY2021 with an annual revenue run rate of Rs 460 cr and expects to double the ARR this fiscal. Honasa aims to become a billion-dollar FMCG conglomerate in the next 5 years. Earlier in January, Honasa Consumer raised $52 million led by Sequoia to enter the coveted unicorn club, at a valuation of $1.2 billion.
This has been the primary distinguishing factor for the brand and has been pivotal in crafting an incredibly unique, carefully considered, beautifully designed product line. BBLUNT enjoys huge equity with millennials today and has many prestigious Bollywood feature films to its credit like Dil Chahta Hai, which broke the traditional mould of hairstyling in the industry.
