French cosmetics groups team up for acquisitions

Paris - French cosmetics companies Clarins and L'Occitane announced on Friday they would team up to make acquisitions worth up to 500 million euros (666 million dollars).

"Clarins and L'Occitane plan to create a joint venture to put in place a common policy of acquisitions with a global limit of 500 million euros," said Clarins finance director Pierre Milet.

"The capital of this company will be owned in equal parts (by both companies)," he said, making it a 50-50 joint venture between the groups.

In an interview with AFP on Thursday, the chairman of L'Occitane, Reinold Geiger, said his company wanted to "begin to be interested in possible external growth."

Clarins owns about 23.0 per cent of L'Occitane but plans to sell about 12 per cent to management of the group.

L'Occitane makes natural cosmetics which are marketed using the image of the Provence region of southeast France.

Clarins, known for its skincare products, employs nearly six thousand employees and has sales of more than 600 million euros.

Agence France Presse

Beauty and Personal Care products are a HUGE business.

specially for L'OREAL