Beiersdorf AG

Beiersdorf dates its origins to a patent specification of 28 March 1882, which the company considers its foundation date [3]. The business was started in Hamburg by pharmacist Paul Beiersdorf, and Hamburg has remained its headquarters since [1]. The Eucerin skin-care brand followed in 1911, and NIVEA, which became the company's flagship, in 1890 [1].

Over the following century the company grew from its pharmaceutical and adhesives roots into a multinational consumer-goods group spanning skin care, personal care and, through tesa, industrial and consumer adhesives.

Beiersdorf's beauty and personal-care portfolio centres on NIVEA, its mass-market skin-care brand, and Eucerin, its dermocosmetic line sold largely through pharmacies. The group also owns Labello lip care, Aquaphor and the wound-care brand Hansaplast, together with Atrix hand care and the Nordic body-wash brand Dubbeldusch.

At the premium end, the portfolio includes La Prairie and, more recently, the luxury skin-care and colour brand Chantecaille and SBT Cosmetics. In sun care, the group owns Coppertone. The tesa adhesives operation sits outside the beauty portfolio.

Beiersdorf has expanded its skin-care range through targeted acquisitions, particularly in the premium and dermatological segments. In 1991 it acquired the Swiss luxury skin-care company La Prairie Group AG [5]. In 2019 it bought the sun-care brand Coppertone from Bayer for USD 550 million, adding an established sun-protection line to its portfolio [6]. In 2020 it acquired the natural-cosmetics brand Stop the Water While Using Me, which was later discontinued in 2023 [1]. The company completed its acquisition of the luxury skin-care brand Chantecaille in 2022 [1].

The group has also divested businesses outside its consumer focus: in 2006 it sold its BSN Medical operation to Montagu Private Equity for EUR 1.03 billion [1].

Beiersdorf AG is a public company, listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker BEI and included in the DAX index. Despite the public listing, control rests with maxingvest AG, the holding company associated with the Herz family and the parent of the coffee retailer Tchibo, which directly holds 50.49% of the shares [1].