Novena Global Lifecare completes $475.4m merger with Xingkeduo

Novena Global Lifecare now has access to Xingkeduo’s AI-based platform and physical network of nearly 100 stores.

Novena Global Lifecare completed its $475.4m merger with Xingkeduo, a Chinese express haircut business with nearly 100 stores in China.

The merger will see an accelerated expansion of Xingkeduo and Novena’s NOVU Aesthetics brand in China. Plans for the creation of a one-of-a-kind hybrid store format offering complementary medtech-based aesthetic and hairdressing solutions driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are reportedly underway.

The merger will also introduce NOVU’s skincare technology to Chinese consumers, leveraging the Beauty OS system to accelerate the service upgrade of NOVU stores around the world.

Novena Global Lifecare’s Executive Chairman and co-founder Nelson Loh will serve as chairman, while DORR Group and Novena Global Lifecare’s CEO and co-founder Terence Loh and Xingkeduo’s founder Willy Chuang will be co-CEOs.

The merger is the first deal arising from the $27.16m strategic investment made by Sinopharm Capital and Cedarlake Capital into Novena Global Lifecare last month.

Founded in 2015, Xingkeduo claims itself as the first company in China to combine hairdressing with online-to-offline commerce for online orders and queue reservations. Meanwhile, Novena Global Lifecare is an integrated medical healthcare and aesthetic company with over 100 clinics in 20 cities.