Amazon to invest in Japanese beauty retailer Istyle

Amazon.com will invest in istyle, the company behind the @cosme review and retail site, gaining access to the Japanese beauty product vendor’s trove of user reviews.

Under the agreement announced Monday, istyle will issue 2.5 billion yen ($18.7 million) in convertible bonds as well as 11.5 billion yen in warrants to Amazon on Sept. 6. If these convertible bonds and warrants are turned into stock, Amazon would become the top shareholder with a 36.95% stake.

Amazon will open a dedicated page, tentatively named @cosme Shopping, on its site, where istyle will provide the latest on beauty products to the e-retailer’s members and sell cosmetics from a wide range of brands.

Istyle has been pushing to merge online and offline sales, setting up a brick-and-mortar store in Tokyo’s Harajusku district. Going forward, Amazon and istyle could collaborate in operating stores using digital tech. The partnership could boost Amazon’s presence in the cosmetic market, where drugs stores and department stores are also formidable players.

Istyle will also issue convertible bonds to investors including leading trading house Mitsui & Co.

Mitsui plans to position the cosmetics business as one of its key growth fields and wants “to broaden access to istyle’s customers and manufacturers,” according to a spokesperson. It intends to leverage its sales network to offer Japanese-made cosmetics in overseas markets.