Four Amyris’ Brands Including Biossance Sold at Auction


Four of bankrupt Amyris’ beauty brands have been sold at auction to the highest bidders.

According to court documents, skin care brand Biossance has been sold to online beauty retailer THG Beauty, formerly known as The Hut Group, for $20 million. THG owns online retailers including Cult Beauty and Lookfantastic, and brands such as Perricone MD and Espa.

Centered around Amyris’ star ingredient, squalane, Biossance has long been considered the best brand on its roster and the most likely to find a buyer.

Elsewhere, Scent Theory Products paid $600,000 for 4U By Tia, launched in partnership with Tia Mowry to fulfill the needs of those with 2A through 4C hair textures by providing a streamlined assortment of need-based products. 

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Dr. Reddy’s Labs paid $3 million for Menolabs,  a women’s health and technology company that provides probiotics for women in perimenopause, menopause and midlife.

And HRB Brands paid $1.75 million for clean baby care brand Pipette.

Amyris, a onetime biotech darling that sought to change the beauty industry with innovative and sustainable ingredients and later moved into the celebrity brand world, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Delaware Court in August.

As of yet there has been no word on some of its other  brands for sale, including Naomi Watts’ menopausal beauty brand Stripes, color cosmetics line Rose Inc. with model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and hair care brand JVN with “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness.

In October, Francisco Costa, the former Calvin Klein designer, bid to may $350,000 for his brand Costa Brazil. Prior to this, Amyris revealed that it would be shuttering the brand.

During the same month, Onda Beauty cofounder Larissa Thomson won an online auction for the Tribeca lease, the company name, website and products in store. Onda was founded by Thomson, Watts and Sarah Bryden-Brown, but later acquired by Amyris.


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