Forma Brands, the parent company of Morphe and Lipstick Queen, amongst others, has been acquired by lenders from bankruptcy.

Along with Jefferies Finance LLC, funds managed by Cerberus Capital Management LP, and FB Intermediate Holdings LLC, the corporate’s latest owners now also include &vest, a consumer brand investment and operational platform.

Thomas Brady, president of Jefferies Finance, said, “On behalf of your entire investor group, we’re pleased to finish the acquisition of Forma Brands, enabling the corporate to maneuver forward ready of economic strength. With a latest capital structure that features additional liquidity and fewer debt, Forma Brands is poised to return to growth and increase profitability while it continues providing consumers across the globe with thoughtfully chosen beauty products.” 

As a part of the transaction, Cliff Moskowitz, an operating partner at &vest, has joined Forma Brands as chief executive officer. He previously served because the CEO of Outdoor Voices.

Moskowitz said, “All of us at &vest are enthusiastic about this latest partnership, and we sit up for helping to return Forma Brands to growth. We see compelling opportunities to drive growth within the business, including latest products, geographies and channel and distribution partners — all of which we’re going to pursue.”

Forma was formed in 2020 as a part of the business’ diversification efforts. Prior to that, General Atlantic had acquired a 60 percent stake in Morphe in 2019, which was on the time a preferred brand run by brother and sister Chris and Linda Tawil that grew largely attributable to partnerships with influencers. On the time of the deal Morphe was said to be doing about $500 million in net sales, with about $130 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and the deal valued the corporate at $2.2 billion.

But then several aspects occurred that weighed on Morphe’s performance. First, COVID-19 struck, leading color cosmetics sales to say no industrywide. Then Morphe cut ties with Jeffree Star and James Charles amid allegations of inappropriate behavior. Plus, supply chain issues plagued the business.

As a part of diversification efforts, the business launched a sub-brand, Morphe 2, and made several acquisitions, including Lipstick Queen and Playa, and incubated brands, including Bad Habit. Last March, former Too Faced executive Eric Hohl joined Forma as CEO, taking up from Myles McCormick, who led the business through its growth era. Hohl was president at Too Faced when General Atlantic sold it to the Estée Lauder Cos. for $1.45 billion in 2016. But all these measures weren’t enough to stop it from filing for bankruptcy.