Aussie owned self-tanning brand Bondi Sands sold to Japanese for $450m

The tanning cream empire started by two mates more than a decade ago has been sold to a Japanese skincare giant, in a huge pay day for founders Blair James and Shaun Wilson.

Blair James, the co-founder of Bondi Sands, which has now been sold to a Japanese company for $450m. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Bondi Sands, the skincare range founded by two mates at the Melbourne Cup more than a decade ago has been sold to Japanese skincare giant Kao for $450m, launching the founders immediately into the ranks of Australia’s most wealthiest entrepreneurs.

The Japanese consumer care business, which also owns brands such as Ban, Bioré, Curél, Guhl, Jergens, John Frieda, has purchased the Bondi Sands business from its founders who have developed the brand in Australia as a leading self-tanning product and which is also now taking on the US market.

Kao Corporation has announced to the Japan Stock Exchange it has signed an agreement to acquire the Bondi Sands brands via the acquisition of Bondi Sands Australia and related Bondi Sands companies.

The price for the deal was not given but is believed to be $450m.

Blair and Melanie James on their honeymoon.

It has been a blockbuster year for Australian-owned or created skincare brands attracting massive buyouts. Earlier this year Melbourne-based skincare group Aesop was sold by its Brazilian parent Natura & Co to global cosmetics giant L’Oreal for $3.7 billion.

The massive sale price underlines the huge success of Bondi Sands since it was launched in 2012 after two friends, Shaun Wilson and business partner Blair James were at the Melbourne Cup and their female companions complained about getting a good spray tan,

At the time Mr James was running a tanning business while Mr Wilson was in a corporate role at RACV, but 18 months later they launched self-tanning lotion Bondi Sands which soon became a blockbuster success.

Within a few years, Bondi Sands, valued then at around $12m, had won supplier deals with pharmacy chain Priceline and Woolworths.

Bondi Sands is now the number one self-tanning brand in Australia and New Zealand, is sold into 10,000 stores globally with the ambition to grow even further with a launch in the US and to increase its reach to more than 15,000 stores.

Lleyton Hewitt plays beach tennis as part of Bondi Sands beach tennis clinic. Picture: Fiona Hamilton/TENNIS AUSTRALIA

Almost six out of 10 people in Australia who pick up a self-tanning product from the shelf choose Bondi Sands, it is available in 32 countries and the brand is also looking at expansion into Europe to create a truly global skincare brand that has its start in Australia.

“The Kao Group has positioned skincare as one of the key growth drivers in its mid-term management plan. With the acquisition of Bondi Sands, Kao will put an even greater focus on the skin protection category, helping consumers to protect their skin from external environmental factors to establish a firm position globally in the sunscreen and self tanning markets,” Kao said in a statement to the Japanese market.

“By leveraging Kao’s vast UV care technologies in the Japanese market and self tanning technologies in the US market, Kao will expand its global business portfolio and further accelerate its business growth. Consistent with its vision of protecting future lives, the Kao Group will continue to invest in and seek aggressive investments for global growth with a focus on skin protection.”

Model Emily Ratajkowski at a Bondi Sands Aero launch party.

“Bondi Sands is an incredible brand and a perfect fit for the Kao Consumer Care Business portfolio,” said Karen Frank, president, consumer care business, Americas and EMEA.

“Quality, innovation, environmental responsibility, accessibility and community are at the forefront of everything it does, ideally aligning Bondi Sands to our own brand values and corporate philosophy, which we call the Kao Way,” Karen said.
“The addition of Bondi Sands to our consumer family of brands will greatly advance our mission to be the preeminent leader in the global skin protection business and continue our journey of offering diverse products that promote a ‘Kirei’ lifestyle that is healthy, inclusive and sustainable for all.”