Advent International to enter a partnership with the founder of the Parfums de Marly and INITIO Parfums Privés niche fragrance brands to accelerate global growth

Paris, 22 June 2023 – Advent International (“Advent”), one of the world’s largest and most experienced private equity investors, today announces that it has reached an agreement to enter into a partnership with Julien Sprecher, the founder of the group behind Parfums de Marly and INITIO Parfums Privés (together the “Group”), whereby Advent will invest in the Group to support the global growth of the brands.

Parfums de Marly was founded by Julien Sprecher, inspired by his passion for the splendour of 18th century France, an era which is widely regarded as the golden age of perfumery. The brand encapsulates the temporal duality of heritage and modernity, with a focus on authentic and quality perfumery that honours French perfumery savoir-faire.

INITIO masters the power of scent through singular and functional fragrances that trigger an emotional and physiological response. A new perfume dimension to access another dimension of the being.

The Group has grown rapidly to become a leading niche perfumery house in the attractive niche luxury fragrance segment, which represents the fastest-growth area within the sizeable ~$60bn global fragrance market, and benefits from high levels of customer loyalty and resilience. The Group is truly global with a strong presence in the US, Europe and the Middle-East.

Advent will acquire a majority shareholding in the Group from Julien Sprecher, who will remain with the Group as Executive Chairman, Creative Director and as a large minority shareholder.

Advent will leverage its considerable experience within the consumer and beauty sector – which includes investments in Douglas (specialist retailer of premium beauty products, including perfumes), Dufry (global travel retailer), Orveon (owner of the bareMinerals, BUXOM, and Laura Mercier cosmetics brands), and Olaplex (global prestige and professional hair care brand) – to support the management team’s ambition to accelerate international growth and strengthen the Group’s omni-channel strategy.

Commenting on the announcement, Ranjan Sen, Managing Partner, Advent International, said: “We are delighted to have acquired a majority shareholding in Parfums de Marly and INITIO Parfums Privés – two iconic and distinctive brands with creative, exciting fragrances at their heart. Under Julien Sprecher’s visionary guidance, the Group has established itself as a leader in niche luxury fragrance, and we see a considerable opportunity to accelerate its growth and penetration in key global markets.”

Nicolas Chavanne, Managing Director, Advent International, commented: “As a global private equity firm with strong experience backing iconic consumer and beauty companies, we firmly believe that Advent is the right partner to support the next phase of the Group’s journey. These brands are emblematic of a new generation of exclusive and distinctive fragrance houses – combining sophistication with creative flair – that we are proud to support. We look forward to working with Julien and the Group’s leadership team to further scale the business and achieve its full potential.”

Julien Sprecher, Executive Chairman, Parfums de Marly Group, added: “Partnering with Advent is a fantastic opportunity for the Group. Since our initial discussions, I have been deeply impressed with Advent’s forward-thinking approach and especially with their desire to support the growth ambitions of the business, while protecting the DNA of the brands, and maintaining continuity with the existing team and its existing partnerships with suppliers and distributors.”

Julien Sausset, Group CEO, remarked: “We are convinced that Advent is the ideal partner to help us to take our brands to the next level. Beyond clear alignment in our strategic vision for the business, we established a strong relationship with Advent from day one and have been deeply impressed by the quality of their team.”