South Korea's "snail cream" brand Deutree sold for US$25.2M
What's the deal? Greenwood Equity Partners, a venture capital firm founded last year, has acquired Deutree — the South Korean cosmetics company famous for its snail mucin-based moisturiser — for US$25.2M (roughly $22M). Greenwood purchased a 100% stake from founder Muncyan Duitri and major shareholder East Bridge Partners.
Founded in 2010, Deutree posted sales of US$29.6M and operating profit of US$1.01M last year. Its hero product, "Snail Cream," contains mucin extracted from snail mucus and has sold more than seven million units cumulatively. The cream gained cult status in South Korean military supermarkets (PX stores), where it became a staple purchase for soldiers.
Why now? The K-beauty industry has grown rapidly over the past three to four years, and dealmakers expect M&A activity to stay hot for the next two to three. Companies outside the cosmetics sector are increasingly acquiring beauty brands as a way into the booming market.
The trend is already visible. Taegwang Group acquired Aekyung Industrial earlier this year, and Jinbaek Global — a subsidiary of Hite Jinro's Seoyoung E&T — bought cosmetics manufacturer B&B Korea in 2024.
What could go wrong? Greenwood Equity Partners is barely a year old, which raises questions about whether it has the operational expertise and resources to scale a consumer beauty brand internationally. Deutree's thin operating margin — roughly 3.4% — leaves little room for error during any transition period.
The signal: K-beauty's global momentum is turning domestic brands into acquisition targets, even for newly formed investment vehicles. When a first-year VC pays US$25.2M for a niche cosmetics company with a razor-thin 3.4% operating margin, it reflects deep confidence that South Korean skincare still has significant runway — and that even military-PX cult hits can be repositioned as global consumer plays.
Read more: mk.co.kr
