Iconic make up brand Barry M has been bought by a rival for £1.4million after falling into administration.
London-listed Warpaint, which owns make up brands including W7, announced it had acquired the Barry M brand, including its IP, stock and order book.
It brings an end to 44 years of family ownership at the company, which gave notice of plans to appoint administrators last month.
Barry M Cosmetics, which sells its products in Boots and Superdrug, became a cult brand known for its brightly coloured nail varnish and affordable prices.
Barry M is known for its brightly coloured nail varnish but has struggled with higher costs
The company was founded by Barry Mero in 1982 who sold nail polish from Ridley Road Market in the heart of the East End.
He passed away in 2014 and his son, Dean Mero, now runs the business.
Last year, Barry M announced a rebrand to make the brand more relevant, but like other retailers, it has struggled in the face of rising costs and dampened demand.
Warpaint said Barry M had approximately £15million of revenue in the year ended 28 February 2025, and the acquisition is being financed from Warpaint’s existing cash resources.
The make up brand said it expects revenue for the year to be £105million following rollout into new retailers, including Superdrug, Tesco and Boots.
However, Warpaint said it had been affected by the ‘challenging consumer and customer environment’ and had lost around £2million due to US tariff uncertainty.
Chief executive Sam Bazini said: ‘Looking ahead to the new year, we expect to see a return to organic growth across the group and also expect to be able to update the market on further significant new customer roll outs with our full year results in April.
‘In addition, we are delighted to announce today the acquisition of the Barry M brand, which is expected to accelerate our penetration into key UK retail channels.’
Shares in Warpaint were down 0.97 per cent to 198.06p following the announcement.
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