Rumours over Nestlé bid for L'Oréal
L'Oréal's share price gained 2.69% on the Paris Bourse to €79.67 after easing from a high of over €80 on 2 March after UK press speculation of a possible bid for the cosmetics major group from Nestlé. Reports suggested that Nestlé had met Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal's principal shareholder, for informal discussions over the acquisition of parts of the group.
L'Oréal's share price gained 2.69% on the Paris Bourse to €79.67 after easing from a high of over €80 on 2 March after UK press speculation of a possible bid for the cosmetics major group from Nestlé. Reports suggested that Nestlé had met Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal's principal shareholder, for informal discussions over the acquisition of parts of the group.
Bettencourt, daughter of the founder of L'Oréal, holds 30.04% of the equity while Nestlé has a 28.9% holding. Nestlé is however barred legally from increasing its stake after the death of Mme Bettencourt who is 87. Cosmetics sector analysts remain sceptical about the prospects of any bid from Nestlé for this reason.
Francoise Meyers-Bettencourt, daughter of Liliane Bettencourt, later denied that the complex legal action in which she is currently engaged against her mother had been undertaken to facilitate a takeover of L'Oréal by Nestlé. Her husband is a director of Nestlé.
The legal action is expected to be heard in July this year at Nanterre and even if Liliane Bettencourt is judged by the court to be in some sense incapable of controlling her affairs, her shares would not be be transferred to her daughter but to an executor designated on an ad hoc basis by the court.