No merger: Puig and Estée Lauder end negotiations without an agreement

Madrid – After nearly two months of intense negotiations, there will be no merger, acquisition, absorption, or any similar operation leading to the integration of the Spanish fashion and beauty multinational Puig group and the American company The Estée Lauder Companies into a single entity. Both companies have now announced through separate statements that they have concluded negotiations for their potential integration without reaching an agreement. These talks had been officially ongoing since March 23.

Separate but similar statements in substance and structure were issued simultaneously from Barcelona and New York at 10:05pm CEST on Thursday, May 21. This corresponded to 4:05pm Eastern Time, coinciding with the close of the New York Stock Exchange. Puig, the owner of fashion houses such as Carolina Herrera, Jean Paul Gaultier and Paco Rabanne, confirmed that negotiations with The Estée Lauder for a merger have ended without an agreement. The company recalled that on March 23, when the talks with the American beauty multinational were first announced, it was stated that without a formal agreement, “an operation and its terms cannot be guaranteed”. Following this, in a statement attributed to its chief executive officer, Jose Manuel Albesa, the Spanish company highlighted the “enriching” nature of the process. It defended the strength of its business model and stated that the group will continue to focus on executing its strategies to generate shareholder value. The evaluation of new merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities is not being ruled out.

“We value the enriching conversations held with The Estée Lauder Companies,” stated Jose Manuel Albesa, CEO of Puig, in the statement sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) announcing the end of negotiations with the American group. “Puig has a solid track record of growth, outperforming the premium beauty market,” he continued. “We remain fully focused on executing our strategy and driving profitable growth, always looking after the interests of all our stakeholders.” The CEO of Puig added that, from this commitment, “this decision does not change our strategic roadmap.” He explained, “we continue to build on our strengths in premium beauty, with a management focused on brands, creativity, agility and disciplined growth.”

“Throughout the company's 112-year history, and supported by our latest results for the 2025 financial year and the first quarter of 2026, we have demonstrated a distinctive culture that has allowed us to meet all our commitments since our IPO, achieving growth targets, improving margins and strengthening our balance sheet,” Albesa defended. Looking to the future, “our solid capital structure gives us the flexibility to undertake a wide range of strategic alternatives aligned with our long-term priorities.” He added, “we will continue to apply a highly selective and value-creation-oriented approach to M&A to further complement our portfolio.” Therefore, despite this conclusion without an agreement for a potential merger with The Estée Lauder, “today we reaffirm our confidence in our ‘Love Brands’ and our exceptional teams, as well as in our strength as an independent company to generate long-term value.”

The Estée Lauder considers asset sales

The statement issued in parallel by The Estée Lauder Companies mirrored Puig's communication almost to the letter, in structure, substance and even phrasing. The note included statements from Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer of the American beauty giant. Similar to Albesa, he addressed his company's shareholders, highlighting the constructive nature of the negotiations. De La Faverie also emphasised the strength and distinctive value of their business model, which operates internally under the ‘One ELC’ operating model. He confirmed they will continue to focus on executing their growth strategies, particularly those within their latest strategic plan, ‘Beauty Reimagined’. Significantly, this includes not ruling out divestments and asset sales.

“We are grateful for the discussions we have had with Puig,” and after concluding them without an agreement, “today we are reiterating our confidence in the power of our incredible brands, our talented teams and our strength as an independent company.” “We are more optimistic than ever about our ability to unlock significant long-term value through ‘Beauty Reimagined’, and we remain focused on accelerating that progress.” He continued, “we have one of the most powerful portfolios of luxury beauty brands in the world, backed by exceptional equity across all categories, geographies and consumer segments.” Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer of The Estée Lauder Companies, defended, “we believe we are uniquely positioned to drive sustainable long-term growth globally.”

“Through ‘Beauty Reimagined’ and the implementation of our ‘One ELC’ operating model, we are building a faster, more agile and consumer-focused organisation that is accelerating innovation, strengthening execution, scaling winning ideas globally and investing behind the biggest growth opportunities across our portfolio,” he elaborated. While the company maintains this strategy, “at the same time, we will continue to evaluate and evolve our portfolio to ensure we have the right assets to drive the most attractive growth opportunities, including potential acquisitions and divestitures,” a comment that signals the company is considering selling parts of its portfolio. In any case, La Faverie added, “we remain relentlessly focused on driving sustainable sales growth, expanding profitability and delivering a strong double-digit adjusted operating margin over time, all while creating long-term value for shareholders.”

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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