Houston’s own Janet Gurwitch, Founder, and the Laura Mercier Brand Reunite In Exciting Business Deal….

Editor’s Note: For many of us in our city that have followed Janet Gurwitch’s life, for me both professionally and personally, it has been a fabulous journey that spans decades…..from our earliest retail experiences to her advancement along that path until she made her splash onto the beauty scene with the launch of Laura Mercier Cosmetics in 1996. How I remember trying products numbered with stickers to apply and give feedback on during the earliest days. We always trusted her decision-making so when she sold her ‘prized possesion’ in 2006, we were a little stunned but continued to use the products we had grown to feel a vital part of our beauty routine. So for me and for many, many others it has been a joyful experience the last few days to see Janet coming full circle back to LM and the brand she nurtured and built, as Advent International, to which Janet is an Operating Partner, has now purchased Mercier as one of three that will grow and with Janet’s involvement, I’m sure, to new heights.

Here’s The Scoop:

Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors announced the signing of a deal to buy bareMinerals, Buxom and Laura Mercier from Shiseido Americas. Advent will buy the new holding company, AI Beauty Holdings., Ltdl, for $700 million. Industry sources said the three brands together have around $650 million in sales.

Upon completion of the transaction, Pascal Houdayer, who has 30 years of senior management experience in the beauty industry, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the standalone business. Advent Operating Partner Janet Gurwitch, a distinguished beauty industry investor and founder and former CEO of Laura Mercier, advised Advent on the transaction and will continue to advise the firm and the new company.

Launched in 1995, bareMinerals is the leader in mineral-based cosmetics and is considered the creator of “clean beauty” and “makeup so pure and clean you can sleep in it.” BUXOM, created in 2007, is a color cosmetics brand focused on “going big, being bold, and feeling sexy.” It is ranked among the top five U.S. brands across various lip categories. Prestige makeup brand Laura Mercier was founded by Gurwitch in 1996 here in Houston, Texas before expanding to New York and pioneered the natural, “flawless face” category.

“We are strong believers in the bareMinerals, BUXOM, and Laura Mercier brands,” said Tricia Glynn, a Managing Director at Advent. “They are clear leaders in prestige beauty and are widely recognized for their quality, authenticity, and innovation, with differentiated products and devoted customers. We are excited to partner with Pascal as CEO of the new company to accelerate the growth of these brands by continuing to develop innovative products, expanding into new categories and geographies, and enhancing digital engagement with customers.”

Advent which owns fast-growing hair business Olaplex, will seek to grow the makeup brands as well. Tricia Glynn, partner at Advent, said she sees potential in all three brands to achieve global growth. “There’s really positive indicators of renewed demand for color cosmetics in beauty and we think it will only intensify going forward and see a huge opportunity to grow coming out of the pandemic” as demand for beauty products and self care continues says Glynn.

In chatting with, Janet, she described this unique scenario that has taken place as “…something I never dreamt would happen. I am elated at the opportunity with Advent as a great partner who can offer all of the assets that these brands could need. How exciting for me to be part of this happening……Advent has so many levers to push to expand products, scale the brands’ digital operations, as well as to be more truly global than they are today.”

Some of the tried-and-true products that made Laura Mercier brand unique that many of us continue to use today