Charterhouse takes majority stake in Skin Tech Pharma Group

Charterhouse Capital Partners invested in Skin Tech Pharma Group on 24 June 2024, with founder and chief executive Philippe Deprez reinvesting alongside the firm. EXCELSIS also holds a stake in the company. Founded in 1996 by Deprez, a doctor specialising in aesthetic medicine, and based at Castelló d’Empúries on the Costa Brava, Skin Tech manufactures the products used in aesthetic procedures. Its range covers injectables based on hyaluronic acid, which fill wrinkles and restore facial volume, chemical peels applied to remove the outer layers of skin, mesotherapy solutions injected into the dermis, and cosmetic preparations used before and after treatment. It sells to doctors and clinics rather than to consumers, and its products reach more than 70 countries. The company was growing by more than 30% a year with an EBITDA margin of 50%, figures that follow from the structure of the market: a syringe of filler costs little to produce and is sold at a price set by what the practitioner charges the patient, while the regulatory approvals required to place a Class II or III medical device on the market take years and deter new entrants. Demand is also unusually predictable for a discretionary purchase. Fillers are absorbed by the body within six to twelve months, so a patient who starts treatment returns regularly or loses the effect, which gives the market a recurring character and limited sensitivity to the economic cycle. Charterhouse backed the company’s entry into new countries, its product development and its commercial expansion, alongside acquisitions in a market divided among specialist manufacturers. The firm had previously held the over-the-counter drug manufacturer Cooper, the specialty pharmaceutical group SERB and the contract manufacturer Labomar.

The acquisition of Skin Tech Pharma Group is part of the growth strategy of Charterhouse, which already has several external growth operations under its belt, notably Two Circles in 2024.