Better-looking skin will create a very attractive figure for a Gold River company. Salu Inc., which operates the SkinStore.com Web site, is expected to be sold to online retailer drugstore.com for $36 million, one of the largest deals in the Sacramento region during the past few years. Salu has been one of the best-performing and fastest-growing companies in the region, almost doubling its revenue between 2005 and 2007 to $43 million, the most recent information available.
Salu’s owners, including a couple of venture capital funds, will receive $18 million in cash and $18 million in drugstore.com shares as part of the deal, which should be completed in early 2010. Bellevue, Wash.-based Drugstore.com says it plans to keep the local offices. Salu has about 75 employees, including a round-the-clock call center for its online store. The company started in 1997.