Motion Equity Takes Control of Beauty Manufacturer Capsum as Chanel Retains Minority Stake

The deal backs the next stage of growth for a company with close to €80 million in sales, around one-third generated in the United States. Motion said Capsum’s revenue has grown fifteenfold over the past 12 years. Its customers include Chanel, Elizabeth Arden, Galénic, La Prairie, L’Occitane and Meaningful Beauty.

Capsum employs 270 people, roughly a third of them in research and development, and devotes more than 11% of annual sales to R&D. Motion plans to support a wider range of technologies and product categories while strengthening the group’s U.S. presence and developing its business in Asia.

In the U.S., the recent acquisition of clean-beauty formulator KKT Labs gives Capsum another route to expand beyond microfluidics. Products outside that technology already account for close to 40% of its U.S. business.

The new ownership structure keeps Chanel invested while giving Capsum financial backing for a broader international manufacturing business.