After revealing that they were in talks last March, the Spanish group and the American giant will not be reaching an agreement on a merger, according to their respective press releases issued on Thursday, May 21.
A marriage called off. Luxury cosmetics leaders Puig and Estée Lauder announced on Thursday, May 21, in separate press releases, the end of negotiations regarding a potential merger of their companies.
This deal could have created a group with $20 billion in revenue (approximately €17 billion). By comparison, its competitor L’Oréal is worth €44.05 billion and generated a net profit of €6.13 billion in 2025.
Puig, the Spanish owner of brands such as Rabanne, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Uriage, stated through its CEO Jose Manuel Albes that this decision did not alter its “strategic roadmap.” “We continue to build on our strengths in premium beauty,” said the businessman, who went on to describe his discussions with Estée Lauder as “enriching” .
The same sentiment was echoed by the American company that owns Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics, and La Mer. “Today, we reaffirm our confidence in the power of our incredible brands, our talented teams, and our strength as an independent company,” said Stéphane de La Faverie, Chairman and CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies, in the press release. The French executive also expressed his “gratitude for the conversations” he had with Puig.
A tense context
“We are more optimistic than ever about our ability to unlock significant long-term value through Beauty Reimagined, and we remain focused on accelerating this progress,” he added. Between October and the end of December 2025, the Estée Lauder group reported revenue of $4.23 billion with net income of $162 million for the period. Puig, for its part, generated more than €5 billion in sales and a profit of €600 million in 2025.
When negotiations between Estée Lauder and Puig were announced in March, the American giant’s stock price took a hit. At the outset of this potential merger, the company was valued at $28.7 billion, down from $110 billion in 2021. Financial experts were therefore cautious.
In February 2025, Estée Lauder unveiled a restructuring plan, with a final cost expected to range between $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion, as well as the elimination of 5,800 to 7,000 jobs by the end of 2026. “The Estée Lauder Companies remains fully focused on continuing to execute its Beauty Reimagined strategy, which is well underway and delivering positive results,” the company reiterated in its statement on the completion of the merger.
A merger that took place against a backdrop of geopolitical instability. The increase in tariffs by Donald Trump in early 2025 has indeed impacted the flow of goods between continents. Coupled with this, the war in Iran, now in its 87th day, has frozen the Middle Eastern market, which accounts for between 5% and 6% of global luxury goods sales—including perfumes—as noted by Les Echos.
Read more > Puig slows down in the first quarter
Featured Photo: © Filip Baotić/UNSPLASH
