Gokongwei firm buys stake in online retailer

Gokongwei-led Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) has acquired a 20-percent stake in the company that operates e-commerce site BeautyMNL, a leading local online retailer of personal care and beauty products.

RRHI told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday that it had bought 20 percent of Taste Central Curators Inc., operator of BeautyMNL.

This was meant to “further expand and strengthen RRHI’s presence in the beauty format and e-commerce space.”

For traditional retailers, having an online presence is seen as a way of future-proofing their businesses as mature markets fall prey to a retail armageddon.

Retail armageddon refers to the demise of a number of once-venerable US fashion houses amid the rise of online shopping.
BeautyMNL was described as “an industry leader in the local beauty e-commerce space.”

The amount of acquisition, RRHI said, accounted for less than 10 percent of its total stockholder’s equity.

BeautyMNL sells over 13,000 products across the skin care, make-up, hair care, nails and scents, organic and accessories. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA