After per week of untamed speculation and inaccurate press reports, Byredo has a buyer.

Puig has acquired a majority stake within the brand founded by Ben Gorham in 2006.

The brand, which has been backed by family office Manzanita since 2013, is claimed to have been considering deal options since last September, when it reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to contemplate a deal. The transaction comes during a time of major growth within the fragrance market.

Last week, Le Figaro reported that L’Oréal was acquiring a majority stake within the brand, which sources near the brand on the time denied.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Gorham will proceed as chief creative officer and Manzanita Capital will remain as a shareholder, based on a release.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Byredo, because it perfectly reinforces Puig’s purpose of empowering people’s self-expression, and a powerful and conscious commitment ithe ESG agenda,” said Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer, in a press release. “Puig will contribute our expertise and resources to the event of this unique brand, which represents modern luxury with a powerful consumer connection. This latest acquisition marks a latest key milestone in Puig’s ambition to develop a business with a powerful portfolio of purpose-driven brand.”

Gorham couldn’t be reached for comment, but sources near the entrepreneur said he was excited concerning the latest chapter and stays committed to steering the brand forward, some extent that he emphasized during a hearth chat on the 2022 WWD Beauty CEO Summit, held in May in Key Biscayne, Fla.

“I’m very much occupied with what the subsequent chapter is and the challenges that we as brands and firms face as we move forward,” he said.

“The brand has experienced regular and significant growth during the last 15 years and every phase has presented latest challenges and opportunities,” he said in a press release. “I think that Puig’s experience with founder-led brands in beauty and fashion will help us realize our full potential in multiple categories.”

The Barcelona-based Puig is a very good fit for Byredo. Each place a high premium on the role of design in the luxurious goods world, and Puig also straddles the worlds of fashion and sweetness with brands including Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dries Van Noten, Carolina Herrera and Paco Rabanne. Along with its fragrance, home fragrance and color cosmetics, Byredo markets leather goods, accessories and eyewear, and Gorham speaks often of his desire to proceed expanding outside the realm of pure beauty.

In 2021, Puig recorded sales of two.58 billion euros.

Byredo is claimed to have sales of greater than $100 million and has been on a gentle growth trajectory. Industry analysts said that a valuation of $1 billion for the brand could be reasonable. Executives from Puig. Manzanita and Byredo declined to comment on the figures, in addition to the structure of the deal, but one analyst noted that Puig likes for founders to retain equity as one technique of incentivizing them to stick with the brand. That is outwardly the structure it followed with its acquisition of Charlotte Tilbury, and it is believed that the deal for Byredo follows an analogous model.

“Manzanita is a family-run business, and Byredo has been a part of our family for nearly 10 years,” said William Fisher, CEO of Manzanita Capital, in a press release. “It has been an incredible journey and we’re really proud that this next milestone for Byredo is being created along with one other privately owned family business that shares our passion for constructing exceptional brands.”

FOR MORE ON BYREDO FROM WWD.COM, SEE: 

Byredo’s Ben Gorham Pushes Boundaries

Byredo’s Iconoclastic Makeup Line Is Poised to Launch

Byredo Collaborating With Lucia Pica on Makeup