Mumbai: Honasa Consumer Limited, the parent company of Ghazal Alagh-led Mamaearth, has announced the completion of two consumer brands, men’s grooming brand Reginald Men for ₹195 crore and a 25% stake in oral care brand Fang Oral in filings to the Bourses on December 11 and 15, respectively. The company is looking to deepen its presence in the personal care and cosmetics vertical beyond its core baby care portfolio.
Through these acquisitions, Honasa Consumer aims to build a house of brands using its digital-first playbook. It has been expanding its portfolio in recent years through acquisitions with the likes of haircare brand BBlunt, skincare brand Dr Sheth’s (both in 2022) and organic cosmetics formulations brand CosmoGenesis in May this year.
For noted shark Ghazal Alagh, these acquisitions could help scale Honasa Consumer to one of the biggest cosmetics brands in India, despite the intense competition in the field. The company is betting on its ability to scale through its digital-first strategy, which has worked so far for the company.
Now that Honasa has five brands under its umbrella, all eyes will be on how the company manages to complement these to its bottom line. Until now, most financial analysts have voiced concerns about the company’s capabilities to scale up its acquisitions, with JP Morgan, HSBC and other financial institutions giving it a ‘reduce’ rating. The company’s stock has underperformed following its IPO in 2023, with its stock declining almost 18% in value from its listing price of ₹324. To its credit, the company has managed to turn around from its ₹19 crore loss in the September quarter for FY2024-25 to ₹39 crore profit in the same period this year. How the company manages to convert its acquisitions into a bigger slice of the market remains to be seen.
