Groupe Vabel

Who owns Groupe Vabel?

Groupe Vabel is a French Business Services company, currently owned by Naxicap Partners since 2021.

About GROUPE VABEL

Groupe Vabel is a France-based contract manufacturer and brand owner in cosmetics, perfumery, personal care and health products, designing, formulating, manufacturing and packaging goods for the mass-market, pharmacy and luxury channels. Founded in 1969, the group operates as an industrial subcontractor for third-party brands while also owning and licensing a portfolio that spans fragrance, skincare, hygiene wipes and animal-care lines. It runs an integrated industrial base of roughly seven production sites and three logistics facilities across some thirteen subsidiaries, employing on the order of 2,000 people and selling into around 60 countries. The company positions itself as a Made in France platform serving both retail brands and premium and travel-retail customers.

Ownership journey

Groupe Vabel traces its origins to 1969 and grew over five decades into a diversified cosmetics and personal-care manufacturer before opening its capital to institutional ownership. In 2021 Naxicap Partners acquired a majority stake through a primary leveraged buyout, investing via its NIO II fund and backing the existing management team to accelerate consolidation in a fragmented industry. Naxicap remains an active shareholder and the group is still held under this ownership, with no exit or secondary transaction recorded.

Under PE ownership

The 2021 buyout was structured to give management the financial flexibility to pursue external growth, and Vabel moved quickly on a buy-and-build agenda under the new ownership. Late in 2021 it acquired CCSP Parfums, a fragrance and packaging specialist, in its first bolt-on since the change of control. In September 2023 it added Sarbec Cosmetics, owner of the Corine de Farme brand, a transaction that materially scaled the group and reinforced its ambition to become a leading European player in cosmetics manufacturing. Following these deals the enlarged group reached roughly 2,000 employees and a targeted revenue of about 250 million euros across seven industrial sites, extending its reach in both branded and private-label production.