French Hair Care Brand Les Secrets de Loly Acquired by Quadrivio Group
A prominent French hair care company specializing in textured hair products has been acquired by Quadrivio Group in a transaction designed to accelerate the brand’s international growth strategy.
The acquisition of Les Secrets de Loly represents a significant ownership change for the company, which has established itself as a leading player in the textured hair care market since its inception in 2009. While the financial details of the transaction remain confidential, the deal marks a new chapter for the brand’s expansion plans.
Founder Kelly Massol maintained sole ownership of the company until April 2022, when Quilvest Capital Partners acquired a minority position to support geographic expansion and business scaling. Under the new arrangement, Quadrivio assumes control while Quilvest exits its investment. The acquisition includes participation from co-investors Weinberg Capital Partners and Three Hills Capital Partners.
Despite the ownership transition, Massol will retain a substantial equity position and continue leading the brand’s strategic direction alongside the current management team, which is headed by Chief Executive Officer Carlota Thévenot.
Market Leadership and Product Performance
The company has achieved remarkable success in under ten years, establishing itself as a premier French brand for textured hair care, serving customers with wavy, loosely curled, and tightly coiled hair types. The brand’s product line features natural, high-performance formulations specifically developed for different hair textures.
The company employs a comprehensive omnichannel distribution strategy, selling through pharmacies, selective retail outlets, e-commerce platforms, and online marketplaces. According to company data, one Les Secrets de Loly product is purchased every seven seconds, demonstrating strong consumer demand.
Strategic Development and Growth
During Quilvest’s involvement, the company underwent significant structural improvements and professionalization efforts, including leadership team strengthening. This development phase established robust foundations across governance, organizational structure, supply chain management, and commercial and marketing strategies, while maintaining three consecutive years of double-digit growth.
The brand’s international expansion strategy focuses on increased deployment across European and Middle Eastern markets. Quadrivio’s expertise as a European investment fund with particular knowledge of the Italian market is expected to enhance the brand’s continental presence.
Investment Partnership Vision
The new investment structure aims to support international ambitions through European-level operational structuring, enhanced local capabilities, and controlled scaling that leverages product expertise and the strength of an engaged customer community.
Massol expressed optimism about the transition, describing it as a significant milestone following a successful structuring phase. She emphasized the company’s solid foundation for international acceleration while maintaining its core identity.
Philippe Franchet, managing partner at Quadrivio, highlighted the brand’s attractive characteristics, including market segment leadership, sustained organic growth, profitability, and committed management. He confirmed the firm’s commitment to supporting European expansion and operational value creation.
Investment Firm Portfolios
Beauty represents a strategic sector for Quadrivio, a private equity firm with diverse holdings across various industries, including fashion brands Sessùn and Twinset. The firm specializes in supporting high-growth brands and manages assets exceeding 2 billion euros.
Marc Diamant from Weinberg expressed satisfaction with supporting the visionary founder and her pioneering market brand, noting this represents their third acquisition in the beauty and cosmetics sector, following investments in Cosmogen and Juliette has a Gun.
Weinberg specializes in mid-market equity investments and manages 1.9 billion euros in assets. Three Hills Capital Partners, known for entrepreneur partnerships, has facilitated over 60 add-on acquisitions and expansion into more than 70 new geographic markets while managing approximately 3.3 billion euros in assets. Quilvest manages over 7 billion euros for family offices and international institutional investors, with its buyout team focusing on lower middle market opportunities.