Bloomberg
L’Oreal SA, the world’s largest cosmetics maker, agreed to buy China’s Magic Holdings International Ltd. for HK$6.54 billion ($843 million) to expand in a market where sales growth is outpacing that of the company.
L’Oreal will pay HK$6.30 a share in cash for Magic, the companies said yesterday, 25 percent more than the last traded price of HK$5.05. Magic surged as much as 21 percent in Hong Kong trading today, headed for the biggest gain since its listing in September 2010.
The acquisition gives L’Oreal the top-selling facial mask brand in China, where beauty and personal-care product sales will expand 8 percent to $34 billion this year, according to Euromonitor estimates. Paris-based L’Oreal last month posted second-quarter sales growth that missed estimates amid the weakest performance in North America for two years.