Recently, CHAILEEDO exclusively learned that China’s beauty leader Proya has established a Senior Investment Manager position at its European Innovation Center and has already hired a professional in investment and M&A with experience at prestigious investment banks such as Rothschild & Co and Michel Dyens & Co. This move may signal that Proya’s overseas acquisition plans have entered a substantive planning stage.
At the 2024 Annual General Meeting in May this year, Proya’s Chairman Hou Juncheng publicly stated, “So far, Proya has not yet embarked on acquisitions,” but he revealed preliminary ideas for brand acquisitions: “Through our French subsidiary, we want to acquire some European brands with history and technology to fill gaps in categories such as children’s, fragrance, and men’s, and then introduce them to the Chinese market.”
Since Hou Juncheng stated the idea of acquisitions, speculation has mounted within China and the global beauty market about what kind of brands Proya might target.
To some extent, the outside world views this acquisition initiative as a critical step in determining whether Proya can truly achieve globalization. For example, when discussing acquisition options, people often draw comparisons between Proya and Anta. In 2009, Anta acquired the struggling high-end sports brand FILA, gaining valuable experience for its subsequent international expansion, which helped it rise to become the world’s third-largest sportswear group.
As for the appointment of the investment manager at the European Innovation Center and the current progress of acquisitions, CHAILEEDO sought confirmation from Proya. The company responded: “There is no further information available.”
“Troops Move Only After Provisions Are Ready”
It has been exactly one year and two months since Proya first revealed its plan to acquire overseas brands.
In July 2024, Chairman Hou Juncheng publicly stated for the first time: “We plan to integrate mid-sized cosmetics brands around the world that possess certain qualities,” referring to attributes such as brand story and R&D strength.
“This is Proya’s strategy for future international development,” he added. “Through resource integration, we hope to transform China’s Proya into the world’s Proya.”
Based on public information, over the past year Proya’s M&A activities appear to have made little visible progress. In fact, as recently as four months ago, Hou candidly admitted that the company had yet to fully embark on acquisitions.
From CHAILEEDO’s perspective, this aligns with Proya’s traditionally steady and pragmatic style. Behind the stage, however, Proya has been quietly stockpiling “ammunition” for acquisitions—talent, capital, and, most importantly, strategic vision.
According to CHAILEEDO’s research, as early as June 2024, Proya registered its subsidiary PROYA EUROPE SAS in Paris. Four months later, the Proya European Innovation Center was officially inaugurated.
While this move was largely viewed as an important step in building Proya’s global R&D system, a senior industry insider who attended the center’s opening told CHAILEEDO: “Beyond its R&D function, the center can also be seen as Proya’s ‘intelligence hub’ in Europe.”
The insider added: “Proya is not particularly keen on directly selling products overseas, but instead prefers to acquire brands abroad and operate them.” This view is consistent with Hou Juncheng’s public statements.
Beyond establishing a “forward base” in Europe, overseas acquisitions—being a systematic undertaking—require internationally minded talent and strong capital backing as essential conditions for success.
On August 25, 2025, Proya held the sixth meeting of its fourth Board of Directors, arguably the most important since it first disclosed its overseas M&A ambitions.
On one hand, the meeting approved Proya’s decision to pursue a Hong Kong listing. This means that, with the greater financing flexibility of Hong Kong’s capital markets, Proya will have more abundant financial flow for external acquisitions, while also benefiting from shorter timelines and streamlined processes.
On the other hand, the appointments of two internationally experienced professionals—Xue Xia and Fan Mingxi—were also approved at this meeting. Xue Xia, the newly appointed Board Secretary, previously worked at IBM and ExxonMobil, bringing extensive experience in capital markets operations and multinational corporate management.
Fan Mingxi, appointed as an Independent Director, formerly served as Managing Director of UBS’s Hong Kong branch. Her deep familiarity with the A+H connect mechanism may help accelerate Proya’s Hong Kong listing.
Xue Xia made it clear that a Hong Kong listing would provide strong support for Proya’s M&A activities: “With a stronger capital base and enhanced international brand influence, Proya will have more favorable conditions for overseas acquisitions—ample financial reserves that enable greater flexibility in deal structuring.”
She added: “The international brand endorsement and resource networks brought by a Hong Kong listing can help the company establish faster cooperation channels and directly connect with high-quality overseas targets. This will fundamentally improve the success rate of future M&A deals, and further accelerate Proya’s global expansion through resource integration.”
Most recently, the European Innovation Center, which had previously focused more on R&D and ingredient collaboration, has established a Senior Investment Manager role—signaling that Proya has now activated its overseas “capital radar” to identify suitable acquisition targets.
“Troops move only after provisions are ready.” Over the past year, Proya has demonstrated both patience and prudence in preparing for its acquisition plans.
Potential of Proya Across the Ocean
Two years ago, CHAILEEDO interviewed Ariel Ohana, founder of the renowned independent investment bank Ohana & Co., in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. As a key player behind numerous high-profile global beauty M&A deals, Ariel Ohana told CHAILEEDO: “In the future, Chinese companies will be the main participants in international beauty investments.”
He noted that the focus of leading Chinese beauty companies in acquiring overseas brands has already shifted toward whether those brands can succeed in markets outside of China, rather than only in the Chinese market—“this is also a necessary stage in the internationalization of Chinese companies,” he said.
CHAILEEDO learned that Ohana & Co. has advised on major transactions such as Unilever’s acquisition of premium beauty brand Hourglass, and S’Young International’s purchase of the high-end skincare brands EviDenS de Beauté and RéVive, among other well-known cross-border deals.
Two years later, as China’s beauty leader, Proya’s M&A moves have captured the curiosity and attention of the global beauty market.
So, what kind of brands is Proya truly interested in?
According to CHAILEEDO’s analysis, since July last year, Hou Juncheng has publicly outlined his acquisition vision three times. The key criteria include: medium-sized brands, possessing qualities such as a brand story (heritage) and R&D strength, and the ability to fill gaps in Proya’s portfolio in categories like children’s, fragrance, and men’s.
In addition, unlike international giants that emphasize the optimization of a global investment portfolio, Chinese beauty companies—limited by scale and the number of brands they manage—still largely prioritize the compatibility and growth potential of acquired brands in the domestic market. Proya is no exception.
According to media reports, Proya is considering introducing foreign brands that have not yet entered China through acquisitions and distribution agreements. Hou Juncheng also stressed to the media: “Our product portfolio must reflect the diversity of global consumer demand.”
Ariel Ohana, who has facilitated numerous M&A transactions for Asian beauty companies, recently told the media: “(Proya) may be one of the first cases of a Chinese company shifting from being content as a domestic industry leader to aspiring to become a truly global enterprise.”
However, Ariel Ohana did not disclose which brands he is currently advising in talks with Proya, but he made it clear that the industry can expect Proya to acquire an “internationally influential” brand.
“Not long ago, Chinese beauty companies were still seen as third-tier buyers, only able to acquire very small, non-mainstream brands. Now, the level of their acquisitions is gradually rising,” Ariel Ohana observed.
The potential across the ocean now awaits Proya to unveil the answer.
M&A Is Only the First Step Toward Globalization
For most Chinese beauty companies, overseas mergers and acquisitions remain an unfamiliar lesson.
Looking back at recent overseas M&A cases in China’s beauty sector, only a handful of companies—such as S’Young Group, Yatsen Global, and USHOPAL—have actively participated.
From existing cases, Chinese beauty companies’ overseas acquisition targets have mostly been long-established high-end or luxury beauty brands, with a particular focus on skincare. For example, in 2021, USHOPAL invested in the British premium skincare brand ARgENTUM and completed its first acquisition in 2022.
In 2022, S’Young Group acquired a 90.05% stake in the parent company of French luxury skincare brand EviDenS de Beauté for €49.5 million, and in 2024 completed full ownership.
It is worth noting that both S’Young Group and USHOPAL previously engaged in overseas brand distribution before expanding into acquisitions of multiple high-end international brands—positioning themselves as Chinese luxury beauty groups and seeking to reshape value in the premium market.
Regarding its approach to overseas acquisitions, S’Young Group once stated in an investor activity record: “The company has some experience in acquisitions, but due to cultural differences and different brand evaluation standards, it is difficult to share a universal model. From an external perspective, our criteria for acquiring brands are not the same as others’. We place less emphasis on the brand’s financial performance and more on its identity and DNA—we are believers in the brand, not merely its earnings.”
USHOPAL’s founder, Lu Guo, also explained: “In long-term conversations with brand founders—even when discussing acquisitions and investments—we rarely talk about money. Instead, we focus on questions such as: who should you be, at what stage of your cycle are you, what bottlenecks are you facing, and where can I help you break through? Our track record proves that we indeed have this capability.”
Reportedly, USHOPAL does not assess brands solely on their size but rather on their standing within founder networks, and whether they are on the “wanted list” of international and Chinese brand investors. A senior industry insider has also pointed out: “Global acquisitions are extremely difficult,” partly because companies often move too quickly to localize acquired brands after a deal closes.
On the characteristics of Chinese beauty companies’ acquisitions, Ariel Ohana observed: “Our Asian clients tell us they place great importance on ensuring management teams remain after acquisitions. This emphasis is far stronger than that of other buyers.” For Proya in particular, given its ambition for global expansion, this point may hold even greater weight.
In fact, now may be a prime moment for companies like Proya to expand westward through acquisitions. According to foreign media reports, with an oversupply of beauty brands in Europe and the U.S. and a shrinking base of domestic buyers, companies like Proya are bringing fresh opportunities to the industry.
However, countless cases have proven that even a successful acquisition is merely the beginning of a long journey.
As one industry insider put it: “The core issue of acquisitions is whether a company has a strong organizational and talent system to support the brand’s long-term growth. This depends not only on how well the acquirer understands the value and competitive edge of the brand, but also on what kind of empowerment it can provide.”
CHAILEEDO also noticed that in its latest announcement, Proya quietly added a new phrase to its business mission: “to become a world-class beauty company”—a clear statement of the Chinese beauty leader’s renewed ambition.
At this moment, “China’s Proya” is moving ever closer to becoming “the world’s Proya.”
