KDC/ONE and HCT Group merge their businesses to create a giant supplier of full-service make-up and skincare solutions

The combined business will provide full-service solutions to make-up and skincare brands through the combination of KDC’s formulation and filling capabilities with HCT’s packaging expertise.

Founded in 1992, HCT has grown organically to become a global leader providing packaging and full-service solutions for the cosmetics industry, mainly for the make-up category. With headquarters in Santa Monica, California, and offices in New York, New Jersey, London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Shanghai.

Following the close of the transaction, Nicholas Whitley, President and CEO of KDC/ONE, and Tim Thorpe, President and CEO of HCT, will continue as CEOs of each business.

"Our vertically integrated platform will offer the industry a true one-stop solution. HCT’s cutting-edge designs, engineering, manufacturing and global reach will enable us to further elevate our product and service offerings to better serve and anticipate the evolving needs of our valued customers," said Nicholas Whitley.

This new transaction is part of a long series of external growth operations for KDC/ONE over the past four years. Most recently, the company acquired California’s Benchmark Cosmetics Laboratories, France’s ALKOS Group and the manufacturing operations of UK’s Swallowfield.