The Estée Lauder Companies confirmed on Monday, March 23, that it is in talks with Spanish beauty group Puig to potentially merge the two companies. “No final decision has been made, and no agreement has been reached,” the beauty giant said in a statement.
Initially disclosed by the Financial Times, the information was corroborated by the group chaired by Marc Puig in similar terms.
If completed, the deal would combine the two companies into a group generating approximately USD 19.7 billion in revenue.
The discussions between The Estée Lauder Companies and Barcelona-based Puig come just months after Gucci-owner Kering agreed to sell its beauty business to L’Oreal for USD 4.7 billion.
The deal could help drive The Estee Lauder Companies’s efforts to revitalize its business. A combined company would also better compete with L’Oréal. The group owns brands such as Estée Lauder, Clinique, Jo Malone, Kilian, Tom Ford or La Mer.
For its part, Puig owns a diversified portfolio of fragrance brands, including Rabanne, Carolina Herrera, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dries Van Noten, Nina Ricci, Byredo, L’Artisan Parfumeur and Penhaligon’s, as well as the British makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury.
With Puig more focused on fragrance and The Estée Lauder Companies more centered on skincare and makeup, the two portfolios appear highly complementary.
The news of a possible merger comes less than one week after Puig announced that Jose Manuel Albesa had taken over the chief executive officer reins from Marc Puig, who had been running the Spanish beauty and fashion powerhouse since 2004 and stepped up to become executive chairman.
