L'Oreal to buy Decleor and Carita skincare brands from Japan’s Shiseido for $316 mn

L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company, is buying skincare brands Decleor and Carita from Japanese hair care and cosmetics producer Shiseido Co, for €230 million ($316 million).

The deal comes two weeks after the Paris-based cosmetics giant agreed to buy back 8 per cent of its stock from Swiss food giant Nestle SA for $8.88 billion. (See: L'Oréal to buy back 8% stake from Nestle for $8.88 bn)

Shiseido said that the two companies had been in exclusive talks for the transaction since last October 2013.

Carita and Decleor skincare products are sold mainly in Europe, while Shiseido aims to focus on hair care products in Asia, within its professional businesses division.

Carita has been distributed in 56 countries and Decleor in 80 countries, including Japan. The aggregate sales of both brands for the year ended 31 December 2012 were approximately €1 million and book value of the related brands is approximately €2 million.

''We have determined to sell the brands while undertaking rigorous efforts toward pursuing a strategy based on selection and concentration and we believe that it will be the best choice for both our company and the brands,'' said Shiseido in a statement.

Founded in 1872 as Japan's first Western-style pharmacy in Tokyo's Ginza district, Shiseido has expanded its business not only in the cosmetics but also in food, healthcare and others.

The Tokyo-based company is now the largest cosmetics firm in Japan and the fourth-largest in the world and operates all over the world including Europe, the US and Asia.