Dive Brief:
- L'Oreal will buy back 8% of its shares from Nestle in a convoluted arrangement aimed at unraveling the complex relationship between the companies.
- The agreement, which involves buying and selling of shares in different companies and joint ventures, means that L'Oreal will surrender its stake in dermatology company Galderma to Nestle.
- The deal comes just hours after Nestle executives told reporters what had long been assumed — that the food company was looking to exit its relationship with L'Oreal.
Dive Insight:
You'd have to be an investment banker of an M&A attorney to like this transaction. To simple folks like us, this seems like an extraordinarily complicated way to end a relationship. And as Paul Simon taught us years ago, there's no need for that.