Bourgtheroulde, 28 July 2022 – The Emosia Group, a company supported by Argos Wityu, is acquiring the start-up My Jolie Candle. Founded in 2014, My Jolie Candle has established itself on the home fragrances market, owing to its innovative candles with jewellery hidden inside. The two entities are highly complementary, and this acquisition will enable them to develop on this fast-growing market.
“Emosia is delighted to welcome My Jolie Candle, a company with a strong identity. We hope it will become as emblematic as Maison Berger Paris, Bougies La Française and Ambiances Devineau, our other brands. Each brand is positioned on a specific market segment and has a loyal following of French clients who are attracted to its high-quality products that address a growing demand for home relaxation and well-being,” said Olivier Sillion, CEO of Emosia. He added that “young people, millennials in particular, love My Jolie Candle’s products. Jewellery candles will expand our product range and target customers with specific affinities. This acquisition will also be an opportunity for Emosia to strengthen its digital expertise, because My Jolie Candle is a digital native vertical brand (DNVB) that started and has grown on the internet.”
The acquisition has been conceived as a partnership. My Jolie Candle must retain the pioneer spirit responsible for its success. To accomplish this, the company will be headed by Guillaume Rolland, Director of Innovation at Emosia. As a young entrepreneur in Nantes, Rolland founded the start-up Bescent in 2014 to market the olfactory alarm clock he created and named Sensorwake. Emosia acquired Bescent in 2019.
My Jolie Candle is the group’s fourth acquisition since 2019, following Bescent (2019), Devineau (2019) and Carmin Créations (2021). Emosia is constantly seeking to expand the range of products it offers (the iconic Berger lamp, scented bouquets, electric diffusers, car fresheners, candles, etc.), and the company’s acquisition strategy is right in line with that objective. The French interior fragrances market is the fastest growing in Europe. Emosia is aiming high, and has strengthened its resources since the investment firm Argos Wityu became a shareholder in the company in September 2017.
Samuel Guez, founder of My Jolie Candle, said, “The activities of Emosia and My Jolie Candle are complementary. We will be able to benefit from Emosia’s century of expertise and brand experience. For a young company like ours, this is an opportunity to enter a new phase in our development and to move towards steady, long-term growth. For example, Emosia will open its vast network of 1,200 stores to us. This will obviously change our current scale of distribution.”
Karel Kroupa, Partner at Argos Wityu, Emosia’s core shareholder, said, “My Jolie Candle is a well-known brand with a unique product and a significant customer base. The acquisition of My Jolie Candle is part of Emosia’s build-up strategy and will enable Emosia to offer a rich and varied product range as well as premium-quality services throughout the world.”
Argos Wityu team: Karel Kroupa, François Becque, Afif Chebaro
List of advisors
Financial due diligence: Eight Advisory (Bertrand Perrette)
Corporate lawyers: Jeantet
Argos Wityu
Coralie Cornet
Head of Communications
ccc@argos.fund
+33 1 53 67 20 63
Groupe Emosia
Sandra Culotta
+331 53 32 28 70
s.culotta@maisonberger.fr
About Argos Wityu / www.argos.wityu.fund
Argos Wityu is an independent European investment fund that supports companies in the transfer of business ownership. It has assisted more than 80 entrepreneurs, focusing its investment strategy on complex transactions with emphasis on transformation, growth, and close collaboration with management teams. Argos Wityu seeks to acquire majority interests and invest between €10m and €100m with each transaction. With more than €1bn under management and 30 years of experience, Argos Wityu operates from offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.
About Emosia
The Emosia group sells a broad range of complementary scented products such as bouquets, electric diffusers, car fresheners, candles, etc. Emosia has the most complete product range in the fragrances sector, thanks to its emblematic brands, which include Maison Berger Paris, Bougies La Française and Ambiances Devineau. Leveraging its network of more than 7,000 points of sale in nearly 70 countries, Maison Berger generates annual sales of €110m, half of which derive from outside France.
Emosia has 500 employees in France across five manufacturing sites. Two of its brands, Maison Berger Paris and Bougies la Française, have been named “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” (“Living Heritage Company”), a certification awarded to French companies with exceptional artisanal and industrial know-how.
About My Jolie Candle
Founded in 2014, My Jolie Candle is a French brand of scented products with online origins. It became known through a unique product in the interior fragrances market: candles with jewellery hidden inside. Once the wax melts, a small jewellery box appears.
My Jolie Candle has grown very quickly, owing to its innovative concept and its large community of online devotees. Once it became popular, the brand diversified into new products for filling interior spaces with perfumes and fragrances (mists, scented bouquets, etc.) and also opened a network of boutiques across France in premium locations.
