Acquisitions, Divestitures, Keep L'Oréal Growing

L'Oréal is rapidly gaining on household and personal products market leader Unilever in the international top 30 companies list compiled by Happi.com. Despite the company’s agreement to sell The Body Shop to Natura – “the best new owner we could imagine to nurture the brand,” said CEO Jean-Paul Agon – the company grew in size after acquiring CeraVe, AcneFree, and Ambi from Valeant for $1.3 billion. Last year, L'Oréal acquired IT Cosmetics for $1.2 billion and Atelier Cologne. The Active Cosmetics unit, parent of CeraVe and other product lines, saw sales rise 5.7 percent, driven by a 12 percent increase in La Roche-Posay sales. The division is also ramping up efforts to reduce skin cancer with an array of sun care products. [Image Credit: © L'Oréal ]