Canada-headquartered Deciem has seven functional skin care brands, including The Ordinary which has a range of simple but functional face care blends (Image: Getty Images) Prestige beauty major The Estée Lauder Companies will up its investment in mass functional beauty player Deciem, establishing terms for full ownership in three years – a move that will diversify it into the increasingly important masstige market, an expert says. Since 2017, Estée Lauder already held a 29% stake in Deciem – maker of The Ordinary and NIOD skin care brands – and would increase this to a 76% majority stake in the first phase of its acquisition, set to close end of June 2021 and cost around €823m ($1bn) to reflect a total enterprise value of €1.81bn ($2.2bn). The Estée Lauder Companies would then purchase the remaining Deciem interests after a three-year period in a second-phase investment, the cost of which was yet to be determined.