Louisa Blair

Apr 28, 2023 | lexology.com | Gavin Stenton |Louisa Blair |Emily Macdonald |Matthew Martin

L’Oréal announces $2.5 billion acquisition of Aesop This month L’Oréal announced its largest acquisition to date: it signed an agreement to purchase Australian brand Aesop from Natura & Co for the sum of £2 billion (USD$2.5 billion), reportedly outbidding LVMH, Shiseido and Clarins in the process. The cash acquisition, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Mar 30, 2023 | lexology.com | Gavin Stenton |Louisa Blair |Matthew Martin

Spring Budget – success or setback? In the Spring Budget, the chancellor announced that the UK is to avoid a technical recession this year and introduced a range of measures to support individuals and businesses against economic uncertainty. However, despite pleas from retailers and industry bodies, it failed to re-introduce the VAT Retail Export Scheme (tax-free shopping for international visitors).

Feb 28, 2023 | lexology.com | Gavin Stenton |Louisa Blair |Emily Macdonald |Matthew Martin

Changing times: structural shake ups at luxury brandsLuxury conglomerate, Kering, have recently announced plans to create an in-house beauty division to develop cosmetics and perfumes for some of its fashion brands. This is a strategic move to build a ‘new area of expertise’ for the group, which is hoped will widen their customer appeal. Rafaella Cornaggia has joined from Estée Lauder to lead the new division.