The Seoul-based company, which also makes household cleaning goods, is looking at “big deals” locally and overseas, including one for Elizabeth Arden, Lee In Ick, a spokesman for the LG Group unit, said by telephone today.
LG Household would become a global luxury beauty company with the Elizabeth Arden deal, which may be valued at more than 1 trillion won ($963 million) including goodwill, Maeil Business Newspaper reported, citing an investment bank official it didn’t identify. A deal that size would be the largest for LG Household, which spent about $34 million on three purchases last year and $485 million on four deals in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
LG Household plans to ally with institutional investors in South Korea to initially take a controlling stake in Miramar, Florida-based Elizabeth Arden before buying out the remaining stakes, Maeil reported.
LG Household rose 3.1% to 495,000 won at the close in Seoul trading, reducing its decline this year to 9.7%. Elizabeth Arden has slumped 20% this year giving it a market value of $844 million.
The maker of Whoo Hwanyugo skin care products also sells perfumes, fabric deodorant, toothpaste and beverages, according to the company website. Elizabeth Arden makes celebrity-branded scents for names such as Justin Bieber and Britney Spears.