Swiss skincare group Galderma has agreed to buy ZO Skin Health, a California company specialising in medical-grade skincare, for an enterprise value of 1.5 billion dollars, or about 1.3 billion euros. The all-cash deal, announced on Wednesday 14 October, will give Galderma 100 per cent of the business and expand its presence in medical skincare sold through doctors, a segment the group describes as attractive and growing quickly.
ZO Skin Health was founded in 2007 by the dermatologist Dr Zein Obagi and is based in Irvine, south of Los Angeles. Its products are sold in about 40 countries, mainly through doctors and medical spas, and the privately held company had annual revenue of 330 million dollars as of June 2026, according to Galderma. The sellers include funds managed by the investment firm Blackstone and members of the Obagi family. The transaction still has to be completed and is expected to close at the end of 2026 or early in 2027, according to the timetable set out by the buyer.
Galderma said the two companies’ portfolios fit closely together and that the purchase strengthens its position in the fast-growing market for physician-dispensed skincare. The group, headquartered in Zug in central Switzerland, owns brands such as Cetaphil and Alastin and also develops injectable wrinkle treatments, cleansing products and dermatological medicines. It reported revenue of 5.2 billion dollars in 2025. Galderma, which makes skincare as well as aesthetic and dermatology treatments, expects the deal to slightly dilute its EBITDA margin in 2027, with a recovery starting in 2028.
At least one analyst backed the move. Stefan Schneider of the Swiss bank Vontobel said the acquisition was “making sense” from both a strategic and a financial point of view. He noted that deals in the sector typically value companies at around 3.6 times sales, and that beauty and skincare brands with higher margins can command more.
Galderma has changed hands several times since it was set up in 1981 as a joint venture between L’Oréal and Nestlé. Nestlé bought out L’Oréal’s share in 2014, then sold the business to a group of investors in 2019. Galderma listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in March 2024, and a few months later L’Oréal returned as a shareholder with a 10 per cent stake, which it raised to 20 per cent in 2025.
