Avon spent 50 years in Japan — then LG bought the whole business for ¥10.5B

Avon Products entered Japan in 1968, building a direct-selling network that operated for five decades. By 2018, Japan was one of Avon's oldest continuous markets outside the Americas, with established brand recognition and relationships with local manufacturers and distributors.

But Avon was in global retreat. The direct-selling model that had made it a Fortune 500 company was under pressure from e-commerce, shifting consumer habits, and declining sales-force recruitment. Avon had already exited France in 2013 and its Australia and New Zealand operations in 2018. The company was selling international businesses to raise cash and focus on a US turnaround.

In April 2018, LG Household & Health Care — the Korean beauty conglomerate behind brands like The Face Shop, su:m37°, and belif — acquired all 4 million shares of Avon Japan through its wholly owned Japanese subsidiary Ginza Stefany (which LG had acquired in 2012). The purchase price was ¥10.5 billion (approximately $97 million). LG cited Avon Japan's five decades of local relationships and 'brand credibility' as strategic assets that would help it expand in the Japanese market.

The sale of Japan did not save Avon. The company continued to haemorrhage sales and faced mounting lawsuits over talc-related claims. In 2024, six years after selling Japan, Avon Products filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States with $1.3 billion in debt. The Japan business, which Avon had spent 50 years building, became a line item in LG's Japanese portfolio.