Amyris is selling off its consumer brands individually, The Business of Beauty has learned.
After filing for bankruptcy earlier this month, there was speculation that the beauty conglomerate would try to sell off its brands as a group to satisfy creditors. But according to internal decks created by Intrepid Investment Bankers to showcase brands to prospective buyers viewed by The Business of Beauty, Amyris is hoping to offload its seven brands — Biossance, JVN, Rose Inc, Pipette, MenoLabs, Stripes and 4U by Tia — piece by piece.
Hero brand Biossance remains the company’s most lucrative sale opportunity making up 48 percent, or $28 million, of Amyris’ $59 million in net sales year-to-date as of June 2023. JVN Hair, founded by “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness, accounts for 21 percent of sales, or $12.3 million, largely due to increased distribution globally, such as launching with Sephora India earlier this year. Baby personal care line Pipette followed at 10 percent, or $5.9 million of net sales, with Amyris’ remaining brands seeing single digit millions to $590,000 in net sales.
The drop in total revenue represents a free fall for the company. Just a year ago, Amryis saw total consolidated sales of $270 million, with consumer brands making up 65 percent — or $175.5 million — in net sales.
None of Amyris’ consumer brands are individually profitable; a key driver of what strategics are looking for in prospective acquisitions today. But the company appears to have slashed costs across the line, including paid media and selling expenses. Rose Inc, the makeup and skin care brand fronted by model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, spent around $6 million on paid media in 2022, with selling expenses at approximately $13.6 million. A year later, those budgeted figures decreased to $4.2 million and $8.6 million, respectively.
Amyris’ former chief executive John Melo, who departed in June, thought more consumer lines, including those with celebrity founders like Van Ness and Huntington-Whiteley, would enable the former biofuels company to scale quickly. But the sheer cost of launching new brands versus investing in existing businesses appears to have undermined the whole organisation: According to the documents, Amyris saw consumer brand net sales fall from $175.5 million in 2022 to $59 million as of June 2023.
