Acquiring ownership of Paris cosmetic ingredients distributor

Sumitomo Corporation (HQ: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Masayuki Hyodo, hereafter “Sumitomo Corporation”) and SACI – CFPA (HQ: Paris, France, Managing Director: Marie-Ann Collignon, hereafter “SACI-CFPA”), a France-based cosmetic ingredients distributor, have agreed that Sumitomo corporation acquires 90% of SACI-CFPA’s shares. 
Europe’s cosmetic market accounts for nearly €78 billion, and is the largest in the world along with that of North America. The European market is expected to stably grow at an average rate of 3% annually. Also, the popular cosmetic brands are based here, thus Europe has been the cosmetic trend source.
SACI-CFPA distributes ingredients, develops formulations, and provides solutions to cosmetic manufacturers in France, major market in Europe, and it is acting as one of the largest distributor of its kind that deals exclusively with cosmetic ingredients. SACI-CFPA’s features are the fact that they distributes cosmetic ingredients to over 300 companies including French multinationals having the product portfolio of naturally derived ingredients that are in especially high-demand throughout the European market.
Sumitomo Corporation has steadily invested in the cosmetic ingredients industry through the acquisition of Presperse in the U.S., Cosmotec in Brazil, and Summit Pharmaceutial Europe (SPE), the cosmetic business line of Kyowa Hakko Europe. 
The recent acquisition of SACI-CFPA expands Sumitomo Corporation’s business in the European market and provides excellent cosmetic ingredients from various regions of the world. Sumitomo will work to integrate SACI-CFPA in to its current cosmetic distribution network, harnessing the synergy of each company’s product portfolio, R&D and formulation knowledge of Presperse, Cosmotec, SPE, and SACI-CFPA have. 
Today’s popular trends in cosmetic products, including whitening, skincare, and antiaging, are expected to become increasingly sophisticated and diverse in the future, depending on the location and the trends. Sumitomo Corporation plans to position its business to accommodate the demand from each region and meet the needs of beauty and healthcare around the world as a global partner of the cosmetic manufacturer,

■Material issues for Sumitomo Corporation
The Sumitomo Corporation Group has defined the “Six Material Issues to Achieve Sustainable Growth with Society” as an important factor in developing business strategies and in the decision-making process for individual businesses. Going forward, we will pursue sustainable growth by resolving these issues through our business activities. This project should prove especially beneficial in “Contributing to the Development of Local Communities and Industries” and “Establishing a Foundation for Comfortable and Enriching Lifestyles.”