C&C International listed next month
Bae Eun-cheol’s CEO “Recognized as a pencil alone”
“Even if you make a good pencil, you can become number one in the world.”
CEO Bae Eun-cheol, the founder of C&C International, a color cosmetics company, made this decision when he founded it in 1997. It has been 16 years since I graduated from Seoul Technical High School and worked as a production worker at the Suwon Plant in the Pacific (now Amorepacific). At the age of 40, he started a company with a pencil-shaped eyeliner (gel pencil) used for eye makeup. At the time, the color cosmetics market was dominated by lipsticks and eye shadows. CEO Bae decided that one day, gel pencils will become the trend of color cosmetics.
He has spent a long time developing waterproof technologies that are resistant to water and sweat and last longer. The gel pencil he developed hit the world market with the K-beauty boom. C&C International has grown into the number one point makeup company in Korea with annual sales of 100 billion won after 13 years of establishment.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 7th, C&C International will be listed on the KOSDAQ market next month.
CEO Bae, the founder, has risen to the ranks of 200 billion won stock-rich. If the public offering price is decided at the top, the equity value of the founder’s family with 100% stake is about 210 billion won. It’s been 40 years since I’ve been walking a single pencil path. CEO Bae said, “We plan to invest in the expansion of factories and production facilities in China with public offering funds,” and “We will become a global color cosmetics company that changes the paradigm of the cosmetics market.”
Pencil for 40 years…高卒’s’color cosmetics myth’
C&C Inter ‘200 billion jackpot’
The size of the global color cosmetics market is $64 billion (approximately 71 trillion won) in 2017. Eye cosmetics accounted for 16.3 billion dollars, and lips cosmetics accounted for about half, with 15 billion dollars. Among them, less than 10% of the pencil-type pencil product line is. This is because the color and formulation are not diverse, and the price is also low. The replacement cycle was also long, so cosmetics companies were reluctant to invest in pencil products. Bae Eun-cheol, CEO of C&C International (photo), paid attention to this. It was judged that there would be a chance to win first place in a field not developed by a large company.
Conquer even hues with one pencil
CEO Bae discovered the possibility of gel pencils while producing color products at the Suwon plant in the Pacific Ocean. Gel pencil is a product used for color makeup such as eyeliner. Instead of a pencil lead, a gel-like color cosmetic was added. It seems that production will be simpler compared to other color cosmetics, but it is not. Cosmetic pencils should not have too hard cores to minimize skin irritation. However, if it is too soft, it will adhere well to the skin, but it will cause smearing. The gel that goes into the pencil contains less oil, wax, and pigment than lipstick, so the technology to realize the color well with a small amount is key.
CEO Bae researched waterproof technology that is not erased by water and sweat and lasts for a long time. We have also developed a formulation that applies smoothly and expresses thin lines. New products with various colors were also released. The existing product was only black and brown because it was optimized for drawing eyebrows and eyelines. The gel pencil released by CEO Bae made a huge hit in the global market. It has also been visited by global luxury cosmetics companies such as L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, and LVMH.
Currently, there are over 100 major customers including Stylenanda, Amorepacific, and Clio. Through partnerships with domestic and overseas customers, it specializes in producing color cosmetics such as lipstick and eye shadow.
Leap forward as a global color cosmetics company
Since 2013, C&C International expanded its business to lipstick lip tints, and sales grew rapidly. Sales increased from 13.6 billion won in 2013 to 86.3 billion won in 2020, a nearly eight-fold increase in seven years. The flagship product, Stylenanda’s ‘3CE Velvet Lip Tint’, sold more than 6 million units despite the aftermath of Corona 19 last year. Last year’s operating profit was 15.4 billion won, the highest performance since its inception. It is evaluated that it has proved its global competitiveness despite the domestic cosmetic industry struggling with Corona 19.
The company plans to increase sales by attracting additional customers from Indie Beauty and Prestige brands, including base makeup products. With the funds raised by the listing, it will expand the production capacity of the Yongin plant, which started operation in March, and invest in entering the Chinese market.
The company is recruiting 1.48 million shares through this public offering. Of this, 60% is issued as new stocks and 40% is made up of sales from old stocks. After listing, the market capitalization is expected to be 240 billion to 330 billion won.
The company makes a demand forecast for institutional investors on the 28th and 29th of the coming month, and the public offering price is confirmed on the 3rd of the following month. The suggested public offering price is 35,000~47,500 won. When the public offering price is confirmed, it will be listed on the KOSDAQ market after receiving a general subscription on the 6th to 7th of the following month.
Reporter Jeon Ye-jin [email protected]