Coty renews fragrance license with Lacoste

By

Adrien Communier

Published
Jul 11, 2019

Coty has announced that it has renewed its fragrance license with Lacoste, which first joined the American cosmetics giant's portfolio at the end of 2016. No financial details have been given about the deal but the renewal nicely cements the position of Coty, which currently boasts revenues of $9.39 billion dollars (8 billion euros), as the global leader in fragrances. 

Previously owned by consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, the Lacoste license was purchased by Coty at a time when the US-based beauty company was acquiring a number of licenses held by P&G. These included fine fragrance licenses for Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci; cosmetics licenses for Cover Girl and Max Factor; and hair color licenses for Wella and Clairol. The acquisition, estimated to be worth around $12.5 billion at the time, helped push Coty to pole position in the perfume sector. 

"The renewal of our agreement with Lacoste demonstrates our strong confidence in the success of this partnership and the key role of the brand within our portfolio to fuel future growth," said Edgar Huber, president of Coty Luxury, in a release. For his part, Lacoste CEO Thierry Guibert explained that he hopes the partnership will allow the brand to reinforce its presence in the fragrance market. 

Over the last three years, Lacoste's relationship with Coty has permitted the brand with the instantly recognizable crocodile logo to launch fragrances such as L'Homme Lacoste, and develop its French Panache range. The renewal of the brand's partnership with Coty comes hot on the heels of news that cosmetics rival L'Oréal has purchased Valentino fragrances and is currently negotiating for licenses for Mugler and Azzaro. It looks like it could be a race to the top for these two formidable global beauty companies.