MILAN – Italian beauty manufacturer Ancorotti Group has taken over Cosmoproject, a fellow beauty supplier that specializes in skin care and foundations, the firms said Friday.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but the acquisition is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Cosmoproject’s acquisition marks another step in the upscale strategy of the company established by Renato Ancorotti and his daughter Enrica in 2009. The group began as Ancorotti Cosmetics, specializing in high-tech mascara, and soon expanded to other makeup and skin care products developed for international beauty labels. It currently serves over 300 customers worldwide and generates more than 85 percent of its revenues outside Italy. Its plant in Crema — located in the so-called Italian “Cosmetic Valley” — employs more than 500 people.
Founded by Primo Tortini in 1993 in Sorbolo Mezzani, near Parma, the family-run Cosmoproject serves 70 clients and generates more than 70 million euros in revenues, more than half via exports. With its acquisition, Ancorotti Group is set to report over 220 million euros in revenues and employ more than 800 people by 2025.
The deal is part of a strategic plan of investments kickstarted when Ancorotti Cosmetics secured the financial backing of L-Gam in 2021. As reported, the Luxembourg-based investment firm backed by the princely family of Liechtenstein acquired an undisclosed stake and entered “a strategic partnership” with the manufacturer, with the aim to enhance its international presence, broaden its product offering and target new acquisitions to complement existing operations.
To be sure, Cosmoproject’s acquisition follows the recent launch of Ancorotti Perfumes, a new company dedicated to the production of fragrances for third parties and established thanks to a partnership with leading perfume manufacturer EuroItalia. Last month, the Intesa San Paolo bank also invested 10 million euros in Ancorotti Perfumes to support the opening of a 53,819-square-foot facility dedicated to fragrances right next to Ancorotti Cosmetics’ plant. The unit is set to produce 50 million units a year and employ 100 people.
Renato Ancorotti said the Cosmoproject deal will now “enable us to expand our knowhow, in addition to makeup and alcoholic perfumery, also to a third strategic segment: skin care,” therefore further strengthening the group, which he defined as “a unique platform that aims to bring together the excellence of the Italian cosmetics industry.”
A well known entrepreneur in the beauty industry, Ancorotti not only retained his role as president of the namesake company after L-Gam’s investment – flanked by his daughter and vice president Enrica and chief executive officer Roberto Bottino – but also served as president of Cosmetica Italia, the Italian association of cosmetics companies, from 2018 to 2022. In 2021, Ancorotti was named a “Cavaliere del Lavoro,” or “Knight of Labour,” one of the highest honors bestowed by the president of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella.
Established in 2013, L-Gam is a long-term oriented investment company with capital commitments of over one billion euros. It focuses on partnering with management teams in small and medium-sized companies across Europe and hailing from different industries. In 2018, L-Gam acquired a majority stake in premium luxury outerwear company Woolrich International. Prior to that, in 2015 it invested in Roberto Cavalli, exiting the fashion company in 2019.
