K-beauty brand Anua’s owner, The Founders, is allegedly eyeing a potential acquisition of skin care brand Dr. Jart+ from Estée Lauder Companies (ELC).
The Founders, a brand-building incubator headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is rumoured to be exploring the acquisition of Dr. Jart+ according to The Korea Economic Daily which has cited people familiar with the matter who were not named
The news follows ELC allegedly receiving the final bids for the rumoured sale of its brands Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart+, according to a report by WWD in May
Rumours that the US beauty giant was potentially mulling the sale of all three brands in a package deal first began in January 2026.
According to WWD’s unnamed sources close to the deal, there was allegedly at least one interested party looking at all three brands and a handful interested in the colour brands, while a few others were also looking to acquire Dr. Jart+ alone.
Smashbox was acquired by ELC in 2010 and Too Faced in 2016, while the company took a minority stake in Dr. Jart+ in 2015, and then garnered the remaining shares in 2019.
The Founders is best known for creating Anua in 2019, with the incubator and skin care line led by co-CEOs Lee Sunhyung and Lee Changjoo.
Cosmetics Business has contacted ELC and The Founders for a comment.
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