L'Oréal announced it has agreed to buy Urban Decay Cosmetics LLC, owned by private-equity firm Castanea Partners. Financial details have not been disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal reported in August 2012 that Urban Decay was for sale and seeking as much as $350 million. LVMH bought Urban Decay in 2000, and sold it to private equity in 2003.
In early November 2012, L'Oréal announced that overall sales had grown 10.9% for nine months ending Sept. 3, 2012. L'Oréal Luxe, the division under which Urban Decay would likely fall, posted sales growth of 9.1% like-for-like and 17.4% based on reported figures for that same period.
The company also recently announced the launch of a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia and a number of significant production and manufacturing expansions, as well as the purchase of a Colombian makeup brand and a salon distribution business based in the U.S.
