Warpaint London PLC has agreed to buy the Barry M cosmetics brand for £1.4 million in cash, a deal that remains conditional on court approval expected Monday. The transaction acquires Barry M’s intellectual property, current stock and its order book; manufacturing assets and any liabilities are not part of the purchase.
Barry M is being acquired from administration. For the year ended February 28, 2025, the brand recorded approximately £15 million in revenue.
Distribution footprint
Barry M retains a substantial retail presence across multiple chains, with one-meter-plus stands in more than 1,300 outlets. That footprint includes about 650 Superdrug locations, 420 Boots stores, 120 Sainsbury’s outlets, 50 Tesco stores and roughly 90 Priceline stores in Australia.
Group trading update for 2025
Separately, Warpaint provided a trading update covering the year ended December 31, 2025. The company said it expects group revenue of around £105 million, up from £102 million in 2024. Warpaint noted improved gross margins during the period and said the 2025 top-line reflects a £12 million revenue contribution from Brand Architekts, which Warpaint acquired in February 2025.
Adjusted EBITDA for 2025 is projected to be about £22 million, compared with £25 million in 2024. The update specified that Brand Architekts added approximately £0.8 million to adjusted EBITDA in 2025, versus an approximate £1 million loss in 2024.
The company quantified headwinds to revenue in 2025. These included the closure of Bodycare, which reduced revenue by about £3 million; a challenging consumer environment that subtracted roughly £4 million; and business lost as a result of US tariff uncertainty, which Warpaint estimated at about £2 million.
Financial position and outlook
Warpaint reported cash balances of £18 million as of January 31, 2026, up from £9 million a year earlier.
On future expectations the chief executive 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."
The Barry M purchase, the company clarified, excludes manufacturing capabilities and liabilities, and remains subject to the required court sanction. Additional integration details and the treatment of any excluded liabilities were not provided in the trading update.
Implications
The deal secures a recognised value cosmetics brand with an established retail footprint while avoiding acquisition of manufacturing operations and certain liabilities. Warpaint’s trading update points to modest revenue growth for 2025, a decline in adjusted EBITDA year on year, and a materially stronger cash position as of late January 2026.