Shinsegae Int'l buys Swiss Perfection brand

The logo of Swiss Perfection, the cosmetics brand that Shinsegae International acquired. [SHINSEGAE INTERNATIONAL]

Shinsegae International acquired premium cosmetics brand Swiss Perfection with the goal of becoming a global beauty company.

Shinsegae International, which sells overseas premium fashion and beauty brands like Diptyque in Korea, announced Tuesday it signed a deal to acquire all the shares of Swiss Perfection for an undisclosed price.

The Swiss skincare brand, launched in 1998, is known for anti-aging products supplied to luxury hotels around the world, including Europe and the Middle East. Its premium serums and creams sell from 500,000 won ($414) to as high as a million won.

The goal behind the acquisition is to expand the company's sales channels in the global beauty market.

Swiss Perfection products are mostly sold to businesses, instead of to individual customers. Shinsegae International also plans to sell them at key department and duty-free stores to make the products available to individual consumers.

The company plans to expand into the China market within three years, according to Shinsegae International.

“Acquisition of Swiss Perfection will be a foundation for Shinsegae International to become a global beauty company,” said a spokesperson for Shinsegae International in a statement. The company “will strengthen investment to aggressively acquire domestic and foreign brands with high potential growth.”

Shinsegae International entered the cosmetics business in 2012 with the acquisition of Vidivici.

Shinsegae International has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Its on-year operating profit in the first quarter plummeted 59.02 percent to 11.95 billion won. Operating profit for the second quarter is projected to fall 29 percent on year to 13.4 billion won, according to a report from Yuanta Securities published last week.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]