The Estée Lauder Cos. wasn’t Puig’s only suitor. It had another one: Kering.
Marc Puig, executive chairman of Puig, related that on Friday during the company’s annual general meeting, which was telecast live out of Madrid.
“Over the past few months, we have held discussions with two companies,” Puig said. “The first was Kering, which approached us about a potential long-term licensing agreement for its beauty brands in exchange for a minority stake in Puig and a cash consideration. Those discussions, however, did not result in a transaction.”
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Kering subsequently, in mid-October 2025, entered into a joint venture with L’Oréal.
“Later on, Estée Lauder approached us regarding the possibility of combining our two family-controlled companies,” Marc Puig said. “We made it clear, as we are not for sale, the combination that was being explored would have required alignment on three key aspects for the potential merger: governance, business leadership and economic terms that would appropriately value the company and be fair to all stake holders.”
As previously reported, Puig and Lauder publicly confirmed on March 23 that they were in talks about a possible merger.
“We have the upmost respect and admiration for the Lauder family and for the Estée Lauder Companies,” Puig continued. “Ultimately, however, we were unable to reach an overall solution that satisfied both parties, and we therefore agreed that it was best to end the discussions.”
On May 21, they said that merger talks had ended.