Newport Beach-based Urban Decay Cosmetics LLC, a maker of edgy cosmetics, has been acquired by a private equity firm.
Newton, Mass.-based Castanea Partners acquired Urban Decay from former parent Falic Group, a Miami-based operator of duty-free stores.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Urban Decay makes eyeshadows, eyeliners, mascara, lipstick and other cosmetics.
The company has a cult following for its edgy products, which have names like Pocket Rocket lip gloss and Brow Beater eyebrow pencil.
The company was started in 1996 by Wende Zomnir, Urban Decay’s executive creative director and “Ms. Decay.”
Zomnir got her start mixing nail polish from her Laguna Beach cottage with the help of a neighbor.
She got an early boost from Sandy Lerner, cofounder of Cisco Systems Inc., who had trouble finding makeup that fit her alternative tastes and backed Urban Decay.
The brand was a smash in the 1990s but saw slower going in recent years as imitators picked up on its style.
The sale is the third for Urban Decay this decade.
In 2000, LVMH Mo & #235;t Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA bought Urban Decay for an estimated $22 million.
Two years later, LVMH sold the business to Falic Group.
