L’Oreal SA’s €4 billion ($4.7 billion) purchase of Kering SA’s beauty business marks the largest in a string of recent deals by the French cosmetics group, as it builds out its range of luxury brands.

The acquisition showed the owner of Maybelline and Lancôme is willing to pounce when prized assets are up for grabs at an attractive price. Creed’s valuation was lower in the deal than the €3.5 billion Kering paid for it in 2023, a person familiar with the talks said, declining to say by how much.

L’Oreal Chairman Jean-Paul Agon approached Kering’s then CEO Francois-Henri Pinault in the past year about striking a beauty deal, people familiar with the transaction said. Pinault is still chairman of Kering but was replaced as CEO last month by Luca de Meo. The talks accelerated in Se

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