KIKO Milano
“Can KIKO Milano unify global retail and digital payment experiences under one platform to become a seamless omnichannel beauty destination across 70+ markets?”
Founded1997
HQBergamo, Italy
FoundersAntonio Percassi
Latest roundAcquisition by L Catterton (70% stake), 2024
Valuation~€1B+ implied (€500M senior secured notes + €85M RCF issued for acquisition)
IndustryE-commerce / Retail
The story
Founded in 1997 in Bergamo, Italy, KIKO Milano grew from a domestic cosmetics retailer to Italy's number-one global beauty brand with a presence in over 70 countries. The Percassi family controlled the business until 2024, when L Catterton acquired a 70% stake financed by €500M in bond markets. A key embedded-finance move in 2025 was the full rollout of Adyen Unified Commerce across both physical stores and e-commerce, integrating payment data and enabling local payment methods across all markets.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
1997
KIKO Milano founded in Italy by the Percassi family as an accessible, high-quality cosmetics retail brand.· pivot
2024
L Catterton (LVMH-backed PE) acquired 70% of KIKO Milano from the Percassi family, financed by €500M senior secured notes and €85M revolving credit facility.· acquisition
2025
KIKO Milano implemented Unified Commerce solution with Adyen across physical and online stores in 70+ countries.· banking
The stack
Accounting gap: none