Matas, a health and beauty retailer, agreed to acquire KICKS, a beauty company, from Axel Johnson, a family business that builds and develops trade and service businesses in the European market, for $196m. “With the acquisition of KICKS Group, we are creating the Nordic leader in beauty and wellbeing through the addition of the KICKS and Skincity banners. KICKS Group and Matas are an excellent match and by combining our two complementary businesses, strong omnichannel positions and passionate organisations and shared culture of customer service, we will lead the Nordic beauty market. I look forward to welcoming our approximately 1.7k new Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish colleagues to the group.United, we willstrive to always be the first choicefor beauty and wellbeing in the Nordics to the benefit of both our customers, colleagues, partners, and shareholders," Gregers Wedell-Wedellsborg, Matas CEO.