Listed beauty and wellness business BWX is to take a 50.1-per-cent stake in omnichannel skincare brand Go-To for $89 million. 

Go-To was founded in 2014 by Zoë Foster Blake and evolved into a masstige brand, boasting sales of $36.8 million last year. Blake will remain with the business as a strategic shareholder and chief creative officer. 

“Zoë is a proven brand-builder and innovator,” said BWX group CEO and MD Dave Fenlon. “We are really excited to be partnering with her and the entire Go-To team to continue growing this business and increasing its availability to consumers worldwide.”

Fenlon said the partnership will provide BWX with an opportunity to accelerate its international growth strategy and increase sales via the direct-to-consumer channel, while also providing access to a potential new growth customer demographic and exposure to a premium brand that complements BWX’s existing portfolio.

The acquisition was announced alongside BWX’s full-year results. Adjusted revenue for the year rose by 8.6 per cent to $203.9 million while net profit surged 60.9 per cent to $23.7 million. 

Fenlon said BWX’s future trajectory has never been stronger.

“Despite continual Covid-19 related retail lockdowns, we achieved growth in sales, gross margin and profit, with increased market share across our core categories of skincare, body and hair,” he said. 

“In FY21 we accelerated our growth in distribution points for our brands Sukin, Andalou Naturals and Mineral Fusion through our new strategic partnership with Chemist Warehouse, and new partnership with Woolworths Australia, and Walmart Canada, as well investment in our direct-to-consumer model to meet growing consumer demand.”

He said a disciplined approach to its cost base while extracting efficiencies across manufacturing, supply chain and procurement, had boosted efficiency.

“The current environment requires a proactive and responsive approach. While we continue to monitor our key markets – which are at varying stages of recovery – we are confident we have the right strategy and we are in the right category,” he said.