PARIS — Two hot area of interest fragrance brands — Parfums de Marly and Initio Parfums Privés — have been snapped up by Advent International, which took a majority stake within the labels.

Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, but industry sources estimate that the deal was valued at greater than $700 million.

Parfums de Marly and Initio have been on steep growth trajectories, together registering retail sales of $366 million last yr, and the brand new financial backing is supposed to assist bolster that.

“The group has grown rapidly to turn out to be a number one area of interest perfumery house within the attractive area of interest luxury fragrance segment, which represents the fastest-growth area throughout the siable [approximately] $60 billion global fragrance market, and advantages from high levels of customer loyalty and resilience,” Advent said in a press release.

Investors have demonstrated keen interest within the area of interest perfume category because it continues to grow rapidly throughout the prestige fragrance segment, which has taken off strongly again because the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

“It’s very much of a continuity plan that we’re going through,” said Julien Sausset, chief executive officer of Parfums de Marly and Initio, of the cope with Advent. “It’s an actual partnership approach.”

Sausset said Advent plans to keep up each brands’ DNA.

“They’ve a really international, integrated approach as private equity, which has experience in helping brands to upgrade and to raise their leadership [position], but additionally with an actual continuity plan with the present distributors, suppliers and teams,” Sausset said. “It’s really what we were after.”

Julien Sprecher launched Parfums de Marly and Initio’s parent company, the Sprecher Berrier Group of Firms, then served as SBGC chairman and artistic director to Parfums de Marly. The chief stays in each roles now and is a major minority investor within the business, in addition to the only real co-investor alongside Advent.

SBGC’s management team is to remain in place, too.

SBGC executives had been chatting with investors for a number of months, but explained in a WWD interview published on March 27 that there was no rush for a deal, as they were searching for the best partner to accompany Sprecher’s vision.

Co-exclusive advisers to Parfums de Marly and Initio were BNP Paribas and Jefferies.

In 2009, Sprecher began the Parfums de Marly brand nodding to 18th-century France. He gleaned inspiration from Louis XV, his passion for horses and the Marly castle dedicated to horses’ well-being.

The brand in 2022 posted retail sales of $280 million, with growth driven by business within the U.S. and Asia, in addition to latest boutique openings.

Parfums de Marly is sold through about 1,400 sales points worldwide. Last yr, it was the fastest-moving area of interest perfume brand in U.S. shops, with 73 percent growth.

The America’s business generated half of Parfums de Marly’s total sales and gained 50 percent against 2021. The brand’s activity was also powered by its performance in Asia, where sales rose 60 percent.

The perfume label’s largest boutique, a worldwide flagship measuring 1,940 square feet, recently opened in Beverly Hills. A branded store debuted in London’s Covent Garden last December, and a store in Shanghai and in Beijing are expected in September,

Meanwhile, Parfums de Marly’s Paris flagship is being moved to Rue Saint-Honoré from Rue Cambon.

Parfums de Marly’s fragrance bestseller is Delina, followed by Valaya.

Between March and May, Parfums de Marly ran a campaign in China with actor-influencer Theo Zhu. That spot garnered 7 million views in its first two days.

The brand is recruiting latest employees and expects to open an office in Asia, probably in Hong Kong, by early 2024.

Constructing brand awareness stays the highest priority for Parfums de Marly in coming years, and to try this upping investment in digital and pop-ups are envisioned.

For its current fiscal yr ending March 2024, Parfums de Marly is targeting retail sales of $375 million. Executives’ ultimate goal is for it to steer within the area of interest fragrance category.

Initio, a unisex brand, was launched in 2015 exclusively in Bergdorf Goodman within the U.S. Its first flagship was inaugurated on Paris’ Rue Saint-Honoré in May 2022, with a design conceived across the concept of a speakeasy. The brand is now sold in 900 doors and last yr made retail sales of $86 million. For its current fiscal yr ending March 2024, Initio is predicted to ring up $125 million in retail sales.

The concept is for a branded boutique to open in London and in Latest York.

Initio this yr launched a scent called Paragon, which was introduced within the U.S. exclusively at Neiman Marcus and is being rolled out elsewhere.

Brands reminiscent of Parfums de Marly and Initio are helping to maintain the prestige fragrance category percolating. It was flat to down in mature markets before the health crisis, but began to fly again during and after it, driven partly by emerging markets reminiscent of China.

Between 2021 and 2022, the premium fragrance market grew 9.1 percent to $57.36 billion and is forecast to rise one other 7.9 percent between 2022 and 2023, and 6.7 percent between 2023 and 2024, in keeping with Euromonitor International.

It’s trickier to trace area of interest fragrance sales, as there’s no clear-cut definition of what constitutes “area of interest.” When it first got here into the lexicon for fragrance, the term encompassed indie start-ups, but numerous those have morphed into multimillion-dollar businesses.

Industry experts feel area of interest scents are fueling the perfume market’s growth.

Euromonitor’s statistics on “super premium” fragrances, last yr with sales of $21.01 billion, estimate that the segment’s growth will probably be 5.7 percent between this yr and 2024, and 6.7 percent between 2024 and 2025.

Private equity and strategic investors are desirous about area of interest fragrance brands, since they’ve been alluring to the increasing variety of consumers on a quest for olfactive individuality. Over again, it’s difficult to construct a brand from scratch today, and so most multinationals are keen to accumulate them as an alternative.

A landmark deal took place last yr in May, when Puig acquired Swedish fragrance and lifestyle brand Byredo, valuing the label at $1 billion.

Investments — of all sizes — within the area of interest perfumery space have continued at a rapid clip thereafter. This month, a majority stake in Sabé Masson, which began with solid fragrances, was sold to Boris Gratini et Hélène Ortola.  

In May, Juliette Has a Gun raised a latest round of funding with Cathay Capital, as did Perfumer H, with Natura & Co.’s enterprise capital fund Fable Investments.