maconda supports Maxburg Capital Partners in the acquisition of Neo Cos, a leading contract manufacturer for premium cosmetics brands
maconda News November 2020
The team at Cologne-based consulting boutique maconda advised Munich-based investor Maxburg Capital Partners on the acquisition of Neo Cos, a full-service contract manufacturer for premium skincare and facial care. In doing so, maconda’s consultants—who have many years of experience in the beauty market—primarily evaluated the highly granular customer and competitive landscape.
The market for beauty and personal care products has been growing steadily for years, and it also proved extremely resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for natural and active-ingredient cosmetics has risen particularly strongly in recent years. This trend benefits smaller cosmetics labels in particular, which offer premium skincare and facial care in these segments. As a full-service contract manufacturer for natural and active-ingredient cosmetics, Neo Cos has specialised in this growing segment. The company serves small to mid-sized cosmetics labels that distribute their products primarily via beauty salons or online retail. The specialist manufactures everyday care cosmetics in a wide range of variants: creams, lotions, ointments, emulsions, ampoule solutions and shampoos. NeoCos has no brand of its own and therefore no direct contact with end customers.
On behalf of their client, maconda’s consultants made the complex and fragmented market transparent and analysed demand for the products as well as the customer structure. In addition, they assessed Neo Cos’s positioning in a heterogeneous competitive environment. A particular challenge in this project was the limited availability of reliable data on the depth of value creation in contract manufacturing, as well as the industry’s typical lack of transparency: cosmetics brands are reluctant to disclose whether they manufacture themselves or “only” fill and package products. Producers of premium cosmetics, in particular, prefer to keep the brand owners to themselves.
Nevertheless, maconda succeeded in lifting the veil for the client Maxburg. Exploratory interviews with various market participants served as a key source of information, including contract manufacturers, raw material suppliers, associations and other industry insiders in the cosmetics segment—many of them from the network of the Cologne-based consulting boutique. Based on the insights from these discussions, maconda’s consultants developed their own assessment.
The range of contract manufacturing providers spans from specialised companies such as Neo Cos, which are geared primarily to the needs of smaller and mid-sized cosmetics labels, to large contract manufacturers with substantial production capacity. The latter set high minimum order quantities and mainly work for major brands or private-label products. Small cosmetics labels often outsource their entire production and therefore rely on long-term relationships with their suppliers. Neo Cos’s advantage: the company meets its customers’ rising expectations with extensive product expertise, a broad product portfolio and a high degree of flexibility.
About Neo Cos
Neo Cos is a certified full-service contract manufacturer for care cosmetics, specialising in the active-ingredient cosmetics segment. Neo Cos covers the entire value chain of cosmetics manufacturing: from development through quality assurance, production, documentation, filling and co-packing to packaging. Thanks to its high degree of specialisation, Neo Cos has strong expertise in unusual “formulations” and special raw materials. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Höxter in East Westphalia. As part of the founders’ succession planning, Maxburg was able to acquire Neo Cos and thus secure the company’s continued successful operation.
maconda continues to expand its expertise in the personal care and beauty industry
In recent years, the maconda team has worked intensively on various segments of the personal care and beauty industry and successfully delivered a range of projects. These included several investment checks and Commercial Due Diligence engagements, strategy engagements and projects to improve operational performance. In addition, the team has extensive experience with digital business models and eCommerce.
Solid industry experience in the personal care and beauty sector: Personal Care | Decorative cosmetics | Facial care | Natural cosmetics | Leading perfumery chain | Department stores with beauty ranges | Nail care products | Direct sales of cosmetics | Teleshopping for cosmetics | Filling of sachets | Caps & closures for personal care products | Filling of liquids and aerosols | Hairdressing supplies | PoS displays for decorative cosmetics | Dispensing pumps for personal care and cosmetics products | and much more
About Maxburg
Maxburg is a private equity firm focused on the German-speaking region. Maxburg concentrates on long-term equity investments with the aim of lasting and sustainable value creation. In the recent past, Maxburg has primarily supported majority stakes in succession situations, but is also able to offer tailored solutions as a minority investor. The Maxburg funds have capital commitments of €600 million from the RAG Foundation, which finances the perpetual liabilities of the German coal mining industry.