PPR-owned YSL Beauté, whose licences and brands include Yves Saint Laurent, Ermenegildo Zegna, Oscar de la Renta, Stella McCartney and Boucheron, is to be sold off and will become part of L'Oréal by the end of June.
The deal is however, subject to competition authority approval. A joint statement from both companies confirmed that the sale and licence contracts whose terms were agreed in January this year, had been formalised.
The arrangement is slightly complex in that the Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney and Boucheron brands will remain in the ownership of PPR though their exploitation is being transferred to L'Oréal in the form of a long-term worldwide licence.
The remaining cosmetics and perfumes licences will also be transferred to L'Oréal. In the longer term, it is expected that L'Oréal will make YSL Beauté as profitable as other major cosmetics brands.