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Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

Beauty’s New Challenger Conglomerate Has Always Been Here

By shedding its food and ice cream businesses, Unilever is betting big on beauty. But matching the scale, valuation and category depth of rivals like L’Oréal and The Estée Lauder Companies will require sharper focus and strategic discipline.
Unilever beauty and wellbeing
Unilever's beauty and wellbeing portfolio includes "power brands" such as K18, Paula's Choice and Liquid I.V. It also has a personal care division, powered by brands like Dove, Sure and Axe. (Courtesy of Unilever)

Unilever

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Further Reading

Why Estée Lauder Companies and Puig Need Each Other

The Spanish owner of Byredo, Rabanne and Charlotte Tilbury and the American conglomerate confirmed on Monday that they are in discussions to combine their businesses. A merger could reshape the beauty and fashion landscape.

Why Kering Gave Up on Beauty

The French luxury giant has put aside its ambitions of running beauty in-house. Despite having an enviable stable of brands, the complexity of the business and mounting debt meant it wasn’t worth the pain.

About the author
Rachael Griffiths
Rachael Griffiths

Rachael Griffiths is a Senior Editorial Associate at The Business of Beauty. She is based between St Helens and London, and covers beauty, wellness and industry news.

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