By Cara Waters
Zoë Foster Blake has been reluctant to describe herself as an entrepreneur but after securing an $89 million deal to sell her beauty business Go-To Skincare she says, “I’ve earned my stripes today.”
“Yes, I am an entrepreneur,” Foster Blake says. “It’s been a really big learning curve for me the last eight or so months doing the deal, I am excited and can’t wait to get back to work.”
Under the terms of the acquisition, ASX-listed company BWX will own 50.1 per cent of the young rich lister’s business valuing Go-To at $177 million.
Zoe Foster Blake debuted on the young rich list last year. She will remain as chief creative officer and will stay on the board of directors.Credit: Joe Armao
Foster Blake started Go-To in 2014 and had a 40 per cent stake in the business, valued at $70 million based on the $177 million valuation.
She retains a 23 per cent stake in Go-To which sells its cult peach packaged serums, moisturisers and cleansers direct to consumers and through Mecca stores.
Go-To has boomed during the coronavirus pandemic, selling about one Transformazing sheet mask every minute to record revenue of $38 million last year, as consumers treated themselves with skincare products.
Foster Blake started her career writing a beauty column at Cosmopolitan. She is the author of several books including The Wrong Girl and No One Likes A Fart and headed up Australia’s most recent tourism campaign with her husband, comedian Hamish Blake.
She drew on her beauty expertise to start Go-To creating the products alongside Stefan Drury, who built Go-To’s ecommerce site, Peter Lehrke, who helped develop formulations, and former managing director Paul Bates.
Go-To garnered a devoted customer base through savvy use of Foster Blake’s extensive social media following, with the brand amassing more than 1 million followers.
Foster Blake says her background gave her credibility and integrity in comparison to “influencers paid to spruik things” who did not have an understanding of the category.
“We are a serious skincare brand,” she says. “Marketing and a good story will get you the first product purchase but it won’t get you repeat purchases.”
The brand has expanded to include Gro-To, plant-based skincare for babies and Bro-To, which is marketed to boys and men.
Go-To was founded in 2014 and the business has boomed during the coronavirus pandemic, recording revenue of $38 million last year
Go-To will remain a standalone brand with Foster Blake as strategic shareholder, chief creative officer and board director. The company’s other co-founders will also remain in the partnership.
Foster Blake has agreed to remain with the business for a minimum of three years and says the deal will enable Go-To to expand internationally to countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada with sales in the United States already making up 12 per cent of the brand’s revenue.
“[BWX] have got proven inroads globally with their brands, they’ve got boots on the ground over there, they’ve got the infrastructure, the people, the experience to help us really do that,” she says. “The main reason to team up with BWX is to go at it very hard.”
Foster Blake says the coronavirus pandemic boosted Go-To’s revenue with 60 per cent of its sales direct to consumer.
“Last year it was the year of skincare and everyone retreating to their homes to look after themselves,” she says. “But obviously Mecca is our retail partner and they’ve had so many of their stores closed for such a long time, that’s going to have an impact, however I feel that’s temporary of course.”
BWX already owns the Sukin, Andalou Naturals, Mineral Fusion, and Nourished Life brands and in its full-year results on Friday reported a 61 per cent lift in net profit to $23.7 million for the year and a 3 per cent increase in revenue to $194.1 million.
BWX chief executive Dave Fenlon says the deal provided BWX with an opportunity to accelerate its international growth strategy and played into the “absolute groundswell movement” to more natural products.
“Zoë is a proven brand-builder and innovator,” he says. “We have the tailwinds of consumers moving from synthetic to natural and ultimately the opportunity to take Go-To international.”
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