Shiseido Acquisition Of American Makeup Firm To Bear Fruit In 1st Quarter 2012

Shiseido and American makeup brand Bare Escentuals will be unveiling their first jointly-developed product line in the first quarter of 2012 in Asia. Analysts had become skeptical of Shiseido’s $1.7 billion acquisition of the American brand, believing that the 2009 deal had soured, perhaps  because of communication problems, culture variances and contradictory business goals. Shiseido hopes that success with the U.S. unit will lead to more mergers that will offset lagging demand in Japan, with its aging population. Shiseido’s domestic sales have trended downward for five consecutive years. But global sales jumped 21 percent in 2011, because of strong demand in China and other Asian countries.