MBK buys two Korean consumer firms from Morgan Stanley PE in $216M deal
What's the deal? MBK PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is acquiring cosmetics company SkiniDeaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and health functional food maker Life & Bio from Morgan Stanley Private EquityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (MS PE). MBK signed a contract to buy controlling stakes in both, in a transaction reported at around US$251.5M (roughly $216 million). Both companies were priced at about eight times EBITDA before amortization.
What each company brings: SkiniDea owns the cosmetics brand MedipeelDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, while Life & Bio operates in health functional foods. Current management at both is expected to stay after the deal closes.
Why now? MS PE had planned to shift SkiniDea toward global business-to-consumer channels and restructure it before selling. But the sale timing was accelerated to match terms proposed by MBK, according to the report.
The returns: MS PE bought a 67% stake in SkiniDea in March 2024, when its enterprise value on a 100% basis was US$125.8M. Despite the company's growth slowing in late 2024 and entering an adjustment phase in 2025, MS PE is reported to have more than doubled its original SkiniDea investment.
Life & Bio, acquired in November 2021 with an 81% stake, returned roughly the original investment.
The signal: The deal underscores continued private equity appetite for Korean consumer assets, with buyout firms trading brands built on export-driven cosmetics and wellness demand.
Read more: chosun.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
