Selling the personal-care business (2021)

A way of selling that keeps some fruit, and the loss of a buffer

The assessment of this decision comes down to how one views “a way of selling that keeps some of the fruit.” Shiseido took a consideration of $1.5B (¥160bn) while retaining 35% of the holding company’s shares, keeping a hand on its future growth as well. That the buyer, Fine Today, achieved profitability above a 10% operating margin under CVC shows that the equity judgment was, in one respect, rewarded. Yet the fact that the same business raised its profitability after becoming independent also left the accompanying question of why Shiseido could not draw out that fruit with its own hands.

The weightier point is that what it let go was no mere low-margin business. High-volume everyday goods were a vessel for the fixed costs that support domestic production and sales, and they doubled as a buffer that softened overall profitability when demand wavered. Concentrating on prestige meant letting go of that buffer at the same time. Seeing how the Japan business tipped into the red as the loss of post-COVID inbound tourism compounded it, and how that led on to the early-retirement rounds from 2024 and the restructuring accompanied by record-scale losses in 2025, a question remains of how to weigh the fruit that selection and concentration yield against the thickness of defence they shave away. The sale of personal care can be seen as a decision that reflected both sides.