Women's Health Industry Update October 2026

Executive Summary

Tully & Holland’s Value Proposition: Tully & Holland advises consumer and healthcare product companies, and women’s health sits squarely at the intersection of those sectors.

Women’s health, until very recently scattered across feminine care, vitamin, and skincare aisles in retail, is becoming its own destination in stores, with the likes of Walmart, Walgreens, and Ulta building out dedicated sets for menopause, hormonal, vaginal, and intimate wellness, to better centralize and organize solutions. Strategic acquirers have taken notice of both this merchandising evolution and heightened consumer engagement with the category. Deals are becoming more substantial: three of the seven largest selected transactions announced since January 2022 (see Selected Precedent Transactions, page 3) came in the last twelve months.

PwC estimates the broader women’s healthcare market, spanning fertility, maternal care, gynecology, women’s oncology, and menopause, at roughly $200–230 billion today and projects $280–310 billion by 2030; consumer products are a growing share of that spend. Approximately 1.3 million US women reach menopause each year, at a median age of 51. NORC (formerly the National Opinion Research Center) at the University of Chicago and the AARP Public Policy Institute, analyzing federal survey data, found that only 5% of US women aged 45 to 64, and only 20% to 25% of those experiencing symptoms, were treated for menopause symptoms in 2021. Women are increasingly turning to over-the-counter solutions for their symptoms.

National retailers have each committed expanded shelf space to women’s health over the past eighteen months. Walmart expanded its women’s intimate health assortment to more than 1,000 stores in April 2025; 74% of Walmart’s shoppers are women, and 68% of all its shoppers fall in the Gen X and Boomer cohorts. CVS expanded distribution of O Positiv products to more than 2,100 locations, the brand’s third national chain in under two years, and Walgreens has committed to a dedicated menopause marketing campaign. Ulta Beauty piloted a Wellness by Ulta concept that consolidates skincare, body, sexual wellness, and supplements into one section of its stores.

For sellers, the market is favorable: retailers are devoting more shelf space to the category, and buyers have publicly committed to building in women’s health.

Valuation

Public hygiene and personal care manufacturers trade at a median 0.85x revenue and 8.4x EBITDA on gross margins near 30%; branded consumer health companies trade at 3.1x and 13.6x on margins near 50%. Disclosed women’s health precedents sit between the two at a median 1.9x revenue, well above the manufacturers of the category’s staple products.

The spread between the two public tiers is the point for owners. Scale manufacturers of pads, tampons, and liners are valued on volume and cost, while branded portfolios that own the consumer relationship, carry gross margins near or above 50%, and back their claims with clinical evidence trade at three to four times the manufacturers’ revenue multiple. Buyers of women’s health brands have paid a significant premium to the manufacturer tier, and that spread is what retail velocity, substantiation, and margin discipline protect in a sale process.

Conclusion & Timing

We see three takeaways from the deal flow and current market environment:

• Consumer belief and loyalty drive valuation. Brands that earn consumer trust convert it into strong sales and repeat purchase. Rael had built that following across more than 40,000 doors, including Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Ulta, before TowerBrook agreed to acquire a majority stake.
• Product substantiation and gross margin are key valuation drivers. Brands drawing strategic interest lead with clinical or professional validation. In a category carrying FTC and FDA claims exposure, a claims file that survives diligence is critical to valuation.
• Platform buyers are consolidating the shelf. Essity has made four feminine care acquisitions since 2022, and sponsor-backed holding companies in sexual wellness are buying brands to fill owned manufacturing and mass-channel distribution.

Valuations can be particularly attractive while strategics and sponsor-backed platforms are actively building their category positions; as those platforms fill out, the field of motivated buyers is likely to narrow. For owners intending to transact in this cycle, preparation should begin now: retail velocity data by door, a claims file that will survive FTC and FDA review, and a credible path to gross margin expansion are what buyers will ask for first.

At Tully & Holland, we believe women’s health presents meaningful opportunities at the intersection of consumer products and healthcare, particularly for brands that combine clinical substantiation, retail velocity, and repeat purchase.

Text reproduced from the report as published by Tully & Holland.