Shares of Perfect Corp. rose almost a third to a two-month high / Photo: Perfect Corp.
Shares of Perfect Corp., a small-cap developer of AI-powered beauty solutions and a partner to global brands including L’Oréal, surged nearly 30% on Wednesday after the company said it had received a preliminary buyout offer from Taiwan-based software developer CyberLink and founder Alice Chang.
Details
Perfect Corp. shares jumped nearly 30% on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday to $1.75, a two-month high.
The move followed the company’s announcement that its board had received a preliminary going-private proposal from CyberLink International Technology, Chang, and her affiliated entities at a price of $1.95 per share. This represents a 44.4% premium to the Tuesday closing price, the day before the proposal, and a 35.4% premium to the volume-weighted average closing price over the last 30 trading days, according to a letter by Chang.
“We believe that our proposal provides a very attractive opportunity to the Company’s shareholders,” she said. The consortium, which already controls 53.4% of the company’s outstanding shares and 81.2% of voting power, plans to finance the transaction with its own funds. It expects the board to form a special committee to evaluate the proposal, excluding interested parties.
The proposal is only a preliminary indication of interest and does not constitute a binding commitment to complete a transaction.
About Perfect Corp.
Perfect Corp.’s history is closely tied to CyberLink. Chang founded CyberLink with her husband in 1996 and led it for 18 years. Its products include the PowerDVD media player and FaceMe facial-recognition technology.
As personal computer sales slowed, Chang began exploring expansion into the growing smartphone market. In 2014, the first apps were launched: YouCam Perfect, which allows users to remove blemishes or dark circles from photos, and YouCam Makeup, which enables virtual makeup application.
Perfect Corp. later emerged – initially as a division of CyberLink and, since 2015, as an independent company. It inherited YouCam Perfect and YouCam Makeup. Chang pitched the technology to major cosmetics brands based on a simple idea: “if you try more, you buy more.” Forbes calls her the "godmother of virtual makeup."
Today, Perfect Corp.’s business consists of two segments: consumer apps and enterprise solutions for brands. Its partners include L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Sephora, Shiseido, and Avon. It also works with retailer Walmart and luxury group LVMH. Last year, the company acquired the virtual try-on platform Wannaby from premium online retailer Farfetch. The deal resulted in a $2 million goodwill impairment loss, the company said.
For 2025, Perfect Corp. reported revenue growth of 14.9% to $69.2 million, while net income declined 7.5% to $4.6 million.
Stock performance
Since the start of the year, Perfect Corp. shares are down just over 3%. Two Wall Street analysts rate the stock “buy,” while one recommends “hold.” The average target price of $3.75 per share is more than double the last closing level.
