L'Oréal


L'Oréal S.A. is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris and headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine. As of 2024, it is the world's largest cosmetics company. As of the early 2020s, L'Oréal owned 36 brands and 497 patents.

History

Founding

In the early 20th century, Eugène Paul Louis Schueller, a French chemist, developed a hair dye formula called l'Auréale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he sold to Parisian hairdressers. On 31 July 1909, Schueller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux, which eventually became L'Oréal. In 1920, the company employed three chemists; the number of employees continued to grow, with 100 by 1950, and 1,000 by 1984; in 2021, there was an estimated total of 85,252 worldwide.
After launching in the hair-colour business, L'Oréal branched out into other cleansing and beauty products. As of 2020, L'Oréal marketed in all sectors of the beauty business: hair colour, hair styling, body and skincare, cleansers, makeup, and fragrance.

Recent history and acquisitions

L'Oréal purchased Synthélabo, a pharmaceutical company, in 1973. Synthélabo merged with Sanofi in 1999 to become Sanofi-Synthélabo. Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis in 2004 to become Sanofi-Aventis.
Nestlé has owned a stake in L'Oréal since 1974, when it bought into the company at the request of Liliane Bettencourt, the daughter of the founder of L'Oréal.
In 1984, L'Oréal acquired part of Helena Rubinstein Incorporated from Albi International. The portions acquired were the Japanese and Latin American divisions of the company, along with overseeing the operations and the markets for those divisions. The joint venture partnership between L'Oréal and Albi International lasted until 1988, when L'Oréal brought the remainder of the company and has owned the entire company since then.
From 1988 to 1989, L'Oréal controlled the film company Paravision International, whose properties included the Filmation and De Laurentiis libraries. StudioCanal acquired the Paravision properties in 1994.
On 17 March 2006, L'Oréal purchased cosmetics company The Body Shop for £562 million. In May 2008, L'Oréal acquired YSL Beauté for $1.8 billion.
In 2014, L'Oréal finalized the acquisition of major Chinese beauty brand Magic Holdings for $840 million. In February 2014, L'Oréal agreed to buy back 8% of its shares for €3.4bn from Nestlé. In February 2014, Shiseido agreed to sell its Carita and Decléor brands to L'Oréal for €227.5 million. In June 2014, L'Oréal agreed to acquire NYX Cosmetics for an undisclosed price, bolstering its makeup offerings in North America. Also that year, L'Oréal announced it had agreed to purchase Brazilian hair care company Niely Cosmeticos Group for an undisclosed amount. In September 2014, L'Oréal acquired the brand Carol's Daughter. In July 2016, L'Oréal agreed to acquire IT Cosmetics for $1.2 billion.
In 2017, Bettencourt died and left the business to her daughter, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.
In 2018, L'Oréal acquired the beauty technology company ModiFace. In May 2018, L'Oréal announced a new beauty and fragrance partnership with Valentino. In December 2020, L'Oréal announced that it would acquire Takami Co, a Japanese skincare company.
In 2021, L'Oréal announced the acquisition of the vegan skincare brand Youth to the People.
In April 2023, L'Oréal purchased Australian luxury cosmetics brand Aesop for. In December 2023, L'Oréal announced its acquisition of the Danish research company Lactobio.
In 2024, L’Oréal announced its acquisition of Gjosa, a Swiss water conservation startup. In February 2024, L’Oréal announced its signing of a long-term global licensing agreement for the creation, development and distribution of luxury beauty products by the Italian brand Miu Miu.
In August 2024, L'Oréal opened a research and innovation center in India. In December 2024, L'Oréal expanded its portfolio by acquiring a stake in a leading Korean cosmetics company Gowoonsesang Cosmetics and its brand Dr.G from Swiss retailer Migros. In March 2025, L’Oréal sold hair care brand Carol's Daughter to an unnamed entrepreneur.
In June 2025, L'Oreal signed an agreement to acquire haircare brand Color Wow.
In October 2025, L'Oreal announced a deal to buy Kering's beauty business for approximately €4 billion. The deal includes cologne brand House of Creed and exclusive rights to develop fragrances and beauty products for Kering labels—including Gucci and Balenciaga—for 50 years.

Corporate affairs

Head office

L'Oréal Group has its head office in the Centre Eugène Schueller in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris. The building, constructed in the 1970s from brick and steel, replaced the former Monsavon factory, and employees moved into the facility in 1978. 1,400 employees work in the building. In 2005, Nils Klawitter of Der Spiegel said "the building, with its brown glazed façade of windows, is every bit as ugly as its neighbourhood." Klawitter added that the facility "gives the impression of a high-security zone" due to the CCTV cameras and security equipment.
International units include:
L'Oréal has 21 worldwide research and development centers: three global centers in France: Aulnay, Chevilly and Saint-Ouen. Six regional poles include one in the United States: Clark, New Jersey; one in Japan: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture; in 2005, one was established in Shanghai, China, another in India: Mumbai, one other regional pole in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and, lastly, another was established in South Africa: Johannesburg.

Corporate governance

is the chairman and Nicolas Hieronimus the chief executive officer of L'Oréal. Jean Victor Meyers and Paul Bulcke are vice chairmen of the board of directors.

Stockholders

As of 31 December 2023:
  • Breakdown of share ownership: 34.73% by the Bettencourt family, 30.7% by international institutional investors, 20.13% by Nestlé, 6.63% by French institutional investors, 5.92% by individual shareholders, 1.89% by employees.

    Business figures

Year20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Revenue22.97722.53225.25725.83726.02426.93729.87427.99232.28838.26141.183
Net Income2.9584.9103.2973.1063.5863.8953.7503.5634.5975.7076.184
Assets31.29832.06333.71135.63035.33938.45843.81043.60743.01346.84451.855
Employees77,45278,61182,88189,33182,60686,03087,97485,39285,41287,264

Joint ventures and minority interests

L'Oréal holds 10.41% of the shares of Sanofi-Aventis, the world's number three and Europe's number one pharmaceutical company. The Laboratoires Innéov is a joint venture in nutritional cosmetics between L'Oréal and Nestlé; they draw on Nestlé's knowledge in the fields of nutrition and food safety.

Brand portfolio

Brands are generally categorized by their targeted markets, such as the mass, professional, luxurious, and active cosmetics markets. Galderma is directly attached to the head office. L'Oréal also owns interests in various activities such as fine chemicals, health, finance, design, advertising, and insurance.
In 2023, the World Intellectual Property Organization ’s Madrid Yearly Review ranked L'Oréal's number of marks applications filled under the Madrid System as 1st in the world, with 199 trademarks applications submitted during 2023.

Consumer products division