Between 2 and 7 September 2026, MBK Partners put roughly 470 billion won ($349 million) into two Korean beauty assets. One is a control buyout of Skin Idea and Life&Bio at about 300 billion won ($223 million), near eight times combined EBITDA. The other is 172 billion won ($128 million) for 40% of AXIS-Y's parent at a 430 billion won ($320 million) valuation, founder still in control. Korea's largest buyout firm bought the cash and the option at once, and has not decided whic

On 8 September 2026 in Paris, Cosmax and L'Oreal signed a memorandum of understanding covering three areas of cooperation. The third is the development of new formulations and product formats drawn from the Korean beauty market and Korean consumer trends. No contract value, no volume and no term appears anywhere in the announcement. The world's largest beauty group did not sign for Korean capacity. It signed for Korean judgment about what a product should be.