Procter & Gamble will no longer be acquiring the women’s beauty products company Billie, contrary to earlier plans, due to intervention by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to prevent the transaction. The FTC initiated legal action in December to halt P&G’s planned purchase of Billie, a New York-based company specializing in women’s razors and related beauty items, asserting that the combination would reduce competition within the wet shave razor marketplace.

P&G and Billie jointly released a statement today, conveying their disappointment with the FTC’s attempt to block the merger, which ultimately led to its cancellation:

Billie distinguished itself in the women’s razor sector by aiming to eliminate the “pink tax”—the practice of pricing products marketed to women higher than comparable products for men. The company subsequently broadened its offerings into the wider beauty market, concentrating on more natural formulations devoid of additives and chemicals like sulfates, parabens, formaldehydes, GMOs, drying alcohols, synthetic dyes, fragrances, inexpensive foaming agents, unstable silicones, and BHT.

The company also proved remarkably successful in attracting a younger demographic, spanning Gen Z and millennials, who connected with its core values and contemporary, often forward-thinking, marketing strategies across social media and online platforms. Billie’s advertising frequently featured women with visible body hair—a departure from conventional marketing norms, which typically portray women in razor advertisements as already having smooth, hairless skin.

Billie communicated that women should have the freedom to choose regarding their body hair, but for those who prefer shaving, the company offered an affordable razor option.

A key aspect of Billie’s success was its business model. The company provided replacement blades to customers through a subscription service, fostering revenue growth and customer retention.

Prior to the proposed P&G acquisition, Billie was preparing to launch physical retail locations, which would have positioned the brand as a more direct competitor to P&G’s existing products, according to the FTC.

“As its sales increased, Billie was poised to expand into brick-and-mortar stores, presenting a significant challenge to P&G,” explained Ian Conner, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, in a statement released last month. “Allowing P&G to suppress Billie’s rapid growth would likely result in increased prices for consumers,” he added.

In response to the FTC’s actions, the companies decided to discontinue their merger plans rather than engage in further legal proceedings.

The FTC commended this decision in a statement issued today. Reuters also reported on the companies’ choice to terminate the agreement.

“Procter & Gamble’s decision to abandon the Billie acquisition is a positive outcome for consumers who prioritize affordability, quality, and innovation,” the FTC statement declared. “Billie is a direct-to-consumer company whose marketing appeals to customers dissatisfied with paying premium prices for equivalent razors. The FTC challenged this merger because it would have eliminated a dynamic source of competition,” it continued.

This FTC lawsuit marked the agency’s second antitrust case filed in 2020, following a previous attempt to block Edgewell Personal Care’s (the manufacturer of Schick razors) $1.37 billion acquisition of the razor startup Harry’s, Inc., another direct-to-consumer brand. That deal was also ultimately abandoned.