r.e.m. beauty gets strategic investment from Sandbridge Capital

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 23, 2023

Ariana’s Grande’s r.e.m. beauty brand has announced a strategic investment led by consumer-focused private investment firm Sandbridge Capital. No financial details or percentages were given.

The company said the partnership represents “a compelling opportunity to optimise r.e.m. beauty's global potential through continued product innovation, talent acquisition, and geographic expansion to support surging global demand”.

Sandbridge, which “exclusively partners with high-growth global brands” was joined in the investment by Strand Equity and long-term Grande collaborators HYBE America, Live Nation Entertainment and Universal Music Group.

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The move follows Grande buying back control of her label earlier this year after Forma Brands, her licensee, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.

The almost-two-year-old brand offers colour cosmetics, treatment and complexion products, with a clean, vegan, inclusive and cruelty-free positioning. It’s also newly PETA certified. 

Currently available via its own webstore, it’s also distributed exclusively at Ulta Beauty in the US, Sephora across Europe, and Selfridges in the UK. 

Following the new investment, it will “continue to focus on its core markets, with further expansion plans to be announced”.

Grande called the latest move a “new era for the brand” and its recently-appointed CEO Michelle Shigemasa said that the “bespoke partnership with Ken Suslow and the Sandbridge team opens a world of opportunities for r.e.m. beauty to supercharge our growth through focused investment and [to] further scale [the] already highly engaged audience of beauty enthusiasts”.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Suslow, who is Sandbridge’s founder and managing partner, said the firm would “support the brand's strong growth trajectory through our global industry network and brand-building expertise”.

Sandbridge is heavily involved in style-focused business and its investments include ILIA, Youth to the People, Thom Browne, Peach & Lily, U Beauty, Farfetch and Rossignol.