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Beauty M&A Volume Hits Record 384 Deals in 2025 as Median Deal Value Slips to $22 Million
Beauty dealmaking reached a record 384 transactions globally in 2025, up 8 percent year on year, but Kearney's latest report shows the median deal value falling to $22 million from $26 million. Midsize brands are struggling to find buyers as capital concentrates on small and billion-dollar-plus targets.
The consultancy's analysis places 2025 deal volume at 384 globally, an 8 percent increase over the prior year. The median transaction value, however, moved in the opposite direction, easing to $22 million from $26 million.
The divergence is sharpest in the middle of the market. Kearney defines midsize brands as those valued between $100 million and $1 billion, and it found that these businesses have had difficulty selling as acquirers gravitate toward either much smaller targets or much larger ones.
Small deals below $100 million accounted for 77 percent of activity in 2025. Medium-sized transactions slipped to 17 percent of the total, while large deals doubled year on year to reach 6 percent.
The large-deal tier was anchored by billion-plus-dollar transactions, including L'Oréal's acquisitions of Kering Beauté and Medik8, and E.l.f. Beauty's purchase of Rhode.
The shift toward smaller transactions has continued into 2026. Total beauty deal activity slowed by 11 percent in the first half of the year, yet small transactions climbed to 86 percent of disclosed deals during that period.
Kearney said the growth of small deals reflects an appetite to experiment at low capital commitment while the mid- and large-cap tiers stay largely closed.