MBK Resumes M&A After Two Years with Acquisition of Skinidea and Life&bio

Spotlight on the Growth Potential of the Wellness Sector

MBK Partners is set to acquire Skinidea, a beauty brand operator, and Life&bio, a health functional food company, for approximately 300 billion won. This preemptive investment is seen as a move driven by the high growth potential of the domestic wellness industry.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on September 3, MBK will acquire management control stakes in both Skinidea and Life&bio, which are currently held by Morgan Stanley Private Equity (MS PE), as a package deal. The acquiring entity is MBK’s Special Situations (SS) division. Both parties signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) in early August and have completed their corporate merger filings.

Skinidea operates beauty brands such as “Medipeel” and “Derma Maison.” In 2024, MS PE acquired a 67% stake in Skinidea based on a corporate valuation of approximately 150 billion won. For Life&bio, MS PE secured management control in 2021 by buying about 81% of the shares for around 80 billion won.

Skinidea recorded sales of 104.5 billion won and EBITDA of 27.5 billion won last year. Life&bio reported consolidated sales of 44.2 billion won and EBITDA of 6.9 billion won. The combined EBITDA of the two companies totals 34.4 billion won, and it is understood that a multiple of about eight times was applied to this transaction.

MBK decided on this investment seeing the structural growth potential of Korea’s wellness market, as consumption centered on health and quality of life—such as beauty and health functional foods—continues to expand. Factors such as aging population, rising income levels, and growing interest in preventive healthcare are backing the growth of the market. It is known that the existing management of both companies will remain in place after the transaction is completed.

This transaction marks MBK’s first new management control investment in Korea in about two years. Meanwhile, Skinidea and Life&bio were the last domestic investment assets remaining at MS PE. With this sale, MS PE will fully liquidate its domestic buyout portfolio and take steps to withdraw its investment operations from Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.