L'Oreal
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Divestiture of Parisian fashion house Lanvin to private investor group will include fragrance business following transitional period, which could last up to a year, L'Oreal announces July 12. Investors, including Bio-Merieux-Pierre Fabre group and Marcel Dassault industrial group, formed holding company Harmonie to purchase Lanvin. L'Oreal, which has owned Lanvin since 1996, has decided to sell the brand to focus on core businesses, firm says. Lanvin fragrances generated sales of $22.4 mil. ([Euro]1=$.86) in 2000, but represented only .2% of L'Oreal total sales. In March, fashion house launched Oxygene, its first women's fragrance in 73 years (1"The Rose Sheet" Nov. 20, 2000, p. 4). L'Oreal reported first half sales of $6 bil., up 7.8% from prior year on like-for-like basis