Cosmecca Korea, the No. 3 cosmetics ODM (original design manufacturer) in Korea, moved to strengthen its U.S. operations by increasing control of its U.S. subsidiary Englewood Lab. Cosmecca plans to speed up diversification of customers in the United States by combining the research and development (R&D) capabilities of its Korea headquarters with Englewood Lab's local production capacity.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) on the 27th, Cosmecca secured tendered shares exceeding the target amount (3,311,310 shares, 16.67%) in a recent tender offer for Englewood Lab. As a result, Cosmecca's equity stake in Englewood Lab rose from 50% to 66.67%.
Englewood Lab is a cosmetics ODM company headquartered in Totowa, New Jersey, founded in 2004. It has facilities capable of producing about 250 million units annually of basic skincare, color cosmetics, and functional (suncare, acne) products. More than 90% of its clients are global brands including those in the United States, and it has partnerships with more than 80 brands, such as L'Oréal and Estée Lauder.
Cosmecca secured a U.S. production base in 2018 by acquiring a 39% equity stake in Englewood Lab. Since then, it has pursued operational integration, including R&D integration with the Korea headquarters and plant reorganization. It then raised its stake from 39% to 50% in a tender offer in Feb. 2025 to secure majority control, and this month conducted another tender offer to lift its stake to 66.67%.
Cosmecca cites the establishment of stable customer partnerships as the reason for increasing its equity stake this time. A Cosmecca representative said, "In practical processes such as business meetings, clients tend to focus on how stable the parent company's governance is over its subsidiary and whether it is willing to provide continuous support," adding, "With this tender offer significantly raising our stake, we expect to strengthen client trust and improve the speed of execution."
Industry watchers also say the larger stake positions the company to pursue major items such as articles of association amendments or business restructuring more stably going forward. While a simple majority is sufficient to pass ordinary resolutions at a shareholders' meeting, securing two-thirds of the equity allows the company to unilaterally pass special resolutions such as mergers, partitioning, and business transfers.
Englewood Lab posted 216.8 billion won in revenue and 37.4 billion won in operating profit last year. Revenue rose 19% and operating profit increased 98.8% from a year earlier. Aided by Englewood Lab's improved performance, Cosmecca also recorded 640.6 billion won in revenue, up 22.2% on-year, and 83.4 billion won in operating profit, up 38.1%.
Cosmecca plans to leverage Englewood Lab's U.S. onshore production capacity together with the headquarters' R&D capabilities to win new clients. In Oct. last year, Cosmecca built a central research institute in the Pangyo Second Techno Valley in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, and is developing formulations tailored to industry trends. It also adheres to the "one item, one formula" principle of designing different prescriptions for each product.
Cosmecca's research and development investment steadily increased to 13.3 billion won in 2023, 13.8 billion won in 2024, and 16.8 billion won in 2025. Domestic patents also rose from 18 in 2023 to 22 in 2024 and 38 in 2025.
Park Sun-young, a researcher at the Korea IR Association, said, "Korea is a market where innovative ingredients and formulations are developed rapidly around K-beauty, providing a sourcing hub for materials that indie brands need to strengthen differentiated concepts," adding, "Englewood Lab offers regulatory response capabilities and production infrastructure at its U.S. headquarters, while the Korea entity combines innovative ingredients and trend responsiveness, giving it the competitiveness to pursue long-term co-growth with U.S. indie brands."