Jessica Alba's Honest Co. Gets Investment From L Catterton

(Bloomberg) -- Honest Co., the baby goods and personal-care retailer co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, is getting a $200 million investment from private equity firm L Catterton.

The investment, which is for a minority stake in the business, will help Honest Co. bolster its supply chain and global reach, according to a statement Wednesday. The size of the stake wasn’t disclosed.

Honest Co. is a natural fit for consumer-focused L Catterton, which oversees about $14 billion of assets. Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, the firm was formed in 2016 when French luxury goods giant LVMH combined its private equity and real estate investment units with buyout firm Catterton, which had invested in well-known American brands since 1989.

L Catterton owns wellness and beauty businesses including Bliss, Elemis and Tula. The breadth of the firm’s experience owning mission-based consumer brands, particularly from an operational and network standpoint, was a draw for Honest Co., Chief Executive Officer Nick Vlahos said in a phone interview.

“Having that knowledge base will be helpful,” Vlahos said, declining to address whether the partnership could tee up Honest Co. to pursue a potential initial public offering. “We like the capabilities that they offer, they really believe in our strategy and they’re supportive of our team.”

In 2016, Honest Co. was working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley on plans for an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Since then, Vlahos has replaced co-founder Brian Lees as CEO and announced a partnership with Germany’s Douglas GmbH to bring Honest Co. products to seven European countries.

Alba’s Stake

A funding round in 2015 valued Honest Co. at about $1.7 billion, a person with knowledge of the details said at the time. Reports have pegged Alba’s stake at about 15 percent to 20 percent of the company.

Since Alba helped start eco-friendly Honest Co. in 2011, the Santa Monica, California-based retailer has expanded from selling natural baby products to home cleaning and beauty items online and in stores.

“This partnership will enable us to empower more people in more places by delighting them with products that meet their desire for safety, design and performance,” Alba said in Wednesday’s statement.

Goldman Sachs acted as financial adviser to Honest Co. on the investment from L Catterton.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Hammond in New York at ehammond12@bloomberg.net;Melissa Mittelman in New York at mmittelman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha

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