EXCLUSIVE: Universal Beauty Group Raises €1.5M From Audacia

PARIS — Universal Beauty Group has raised 1.5 million euros of capital from private-equity firm Audacia, WWD has learned. The French natural cosmetics maker, which produces the Végétalement Provence brand for hair salons and beauty professionals, said the new funds will help back production and marketing, and broaden operations in its domestic market of France as well as abroad. Végétalement Provence is slated to open a concept store in Paris next year. “The arrival of Audacia marks a turning point for Végétalement Provence, and will enable us to provide a wider and stronger offer to our clients, reaching out to both beauty professionals and the general public,” said Jean-Marc Delabre, a cofounder of Universal Beauty Group. Delabre, a longstanding hairdressing professional, and Vincent Faraco, a marketing executive, began Universal Beauty in 2008. At the beginning, it produced and distributed hair-care products for other companies. They then launched their own natural hair-care products under the Végétalement Provence label in 2013. Today, products from Végétalement Provence, which is based in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, are carried in approximately 800 sales points, including more than 350 high-end salons, mostly in France. The company sells in Western Europe, Switzerland, Russia and the U.S., where last year it opened a subsidiary primarily for Florida

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