L'Oreal is considering investing in the Middle Eastern luxury perfume brand Amouage.

Recently, Bloomberg reported that informed sources revealed that the French beauty giant L'Oreal Group is considering investing in Oman's luxury perfume brand Amouage. Informed sources said that L'Oreal Group has been in negotiations about the possibility of acquiring a minority stake in the Amouage brand. It is reported that in the current transaction negotiations with the brand owner SABCO Group, the valuation of the Amouage business has exceeded 3 billion euros.

However, this informed source also said that it is not certain whether the transaction can be reached, and the details of the potential transaction may change. At the same time, in addition to the L'Oreal Group, the Amouage brand may also attract the interest of other investors.

For the above rumors, all relevant parties have not commented. Amouage was founded in 1983 and was founded by the Albusaidi family in the Sultanate of Oman. The brand name means "wave of emotion" in Arabic. The brand takes the Arab perfume culture as the core, aiming to make full use of the heritage of the Sultanate of Oman as the "cultural crossroads at the center of the ancient incense and myrrh trade routes". At the same time, Oman is also known as the origin of the world's top frankincense raw materials. Amouage claims that its brand perfumes are known as "the gift of the king", redefining the Arab perfume art, and integrating innovative modernity and true artistry into all its products, using only the most high-quality and special ingredients from all over the world, and formulated by world-renowned perfumers from Paris, Grasse, Geneva and New York. Currently, Amouage is controlled by the SABCO Group, which is an Omani business group now led by Chairman Sayyid Khalid Bin Hamed Al Busaidi and is also involved in the fields of real estate, media, automotive distribution and electrical equipment. It is reported that the father of the founder is the secretary-general of the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a distant relative of the Sultan.

The Amouage brand currently has more than 50 perfumes as well as bath series, scented candles and perfumes, among which well-received products include Amouage Gold, Jubilation, Epic, Dia, Reflection, Honour and Interlude. According to the Amouage website, the price of most of the brand's perfumes is 365 euros per 100 milliliters. In 2023, the retail sales of the Amouage brand exceeded $210 million, an increase of 24%, a record high, and it has more than doubled in the past three years. From a geographical distribution perspective, the most outstanding markets are Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and China, which together account for more than 40% of the total revenue (see the historical report of "LuxeCO": Middle East luxury perfume brand Amouage's sales in 2023 exceeded $210 million, and China is one of the four major markets). Currently, the brand sells its products in about 12 independent boutiques and 1,000 other sales points (including top department stores, perfume specialty stores and airports). Among them, in 2021, Amouage officially entered the Chinese market and opened its first concept store in Zhangyuan, Shanghai in December 2023.

Recently, the L'Oreal Group has carried out a series of acquisitions, investments and licensing transactions to enrich and enhance its brand portfolio. In August 2023, the L'Oreal Group acquired the Australian skincare brand Aesop for $2.5 billion, which is the largest acquisition in the history of the L'Oreal Group. In addition, on February 9, 2024, the L'Oreal Group announced a minority equity investment in the Chinese high-end perfume and fragrance brand Guanxia to summer. On February 9, the L'Oreal Group announced that the high-end cosmetics division welcomed the latest licensed partner brand: the Miu Miu brand under the Prada Group, which will be responsible for the creation, development and distribution of Miu Miu brand luxury beauty products.

On February 8, the L'Oreal Group released the full-year financial data for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023: The dynamic global beauty market continues to perform exceptionally well, and the group's annual sales increased by 7.6% compared to the previous year to 41.18 billion euros, with a combined growth of 11.0% (like for like, based on comparable structures and consistent exchange rates). This is also the third consecutive year that the L'Oreal Group has achieved double-digit growth, once again exceeding the average level of the market, and the operating profit margin has been further improved. Among them, thanks to the successful launch of a series of new products, the performance of the fragrance category has increased by 16.9% year-on-year.