Waldencast Acquisition Corp., launched by former L’Oréal executives Michel Brousset and Hind Sebti, has scaled back its $1.2 billion beauty empire to focus solely on Milk Makeup after selling Obagi Medical. The original three-way business combination closed in July 2022, but by July 30 this year, Obagi was sold to private equity firm Bridgepoint for up to $460 million, marking a significant contraction of Waldencast’s ambitions, according to fortune.com.
Waldencast went public during the SPAC boom in early 2021 and announced the $1.2 billion deal combining Obagi Medical and Milk Makeup later that year. Obagi was valued at $858 million on an enterprise basis at the time, but the sale to Bridgepoint included vendor notes and earnout payments totaling $460 million. The company also sold Obagi’s Japanese rights to Rohto Pharmaceutical for $82.5 million in late 2025. Three senior executives, including Brousset, moved with Obagi after the sale, fortune.com reported.
The shift reflects challenges in building a multibrand beauty and wellness platform amid changing market dynamics. Milk Makeup, the remaining brand under Waldencast, has experienced a 57% drop in sales, underscoring difficulties in sustaining growth. The original plan to create a global beauty empire has unraveled within four years, with the Obagi sale marking a retreat from earlier valuations and ambitions. The deal’s downsizing highlights volatility in the beauty sector and the risks of SPAC-driven expansions, according to fortune.com.
The Obagi sale closed on July 30, 2026, with Bridgepoint acquiring the brand for up to $460 million, including earnouts. Waldencast’s next financial disclosures will reveal how the company plans to address Milk Makeup’s sales decline and whether it will pursue new strategies to stabilize its remaining assets, as detailed by fortune.com.