Every big company has humble beginning. L’Oréal is one of them. L’Oréal started with hair dye called Auréoleits created by its founder Eugène Schueller in 1907. Before settling on the name L’Oréal, the company was registered as the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France).

The creation of L’Oréal happened in 1925 when Schueller unveiled a hair-lightening product that created golden tints and gave an even more natural look to blond hair called L’Oréal d’Or. 14 years after the creation, the company officially changed its name to L’Oréal.

In 2010, the company posted 61% increase of sales in Indonesia. Two years after the surge, L’Oréal set up the largest factory in Jababeka Industrial Park located in Cikarang, Indonesia, with a total investment of $100 million.

Throughout the years, the company has acquired many subsidiaries from independent beauty companies, research facilities to consumer goods company like Nestlé.

Acquisition timeline

1928

Acquired bath soap brand Monsavon.

1962

Acquired Cadoricin, hair-hygiene specialist .

1964

• Acquired the infamous luxury beauty brand, Lancôme. This is also the year when Kérastase was created.

• L'Oréal bought Jacques Fath perfumes Laboratoires d'Anglas .

1965

Acquired Garnier.

1968

Acquired fashion and perfume house André Courrèges.

1970

Acquired Biotherm.

1973

• L'Oréal entered pharmaceuticals business through acquisition of Synthélabo.

• The company also bought 3 beauty companies, Gemey, Ricils, and Jeanne Piaubert.

1974

Liliane Bettencourt traded almost half of her L'Oréal stock for Nestlé.

1975

Acquired Roja. The brand later merged with Garnier.

1977

L'Oréal took stakes in Marie-Claire Album and Interedi-Cosmopolitan.

1979

Acquired Metabio-Joullie, manufacturer of aspirins, over-the-counter drugs, veterinary, cosmetic and dietary items.

1983

• The company sold its 49.9% stake in the couture house Courrèges to Itokin of Japan, although it retained 100% stakes in Courrèges Parfums.

• L'Oréal took major stakes in Helena Rubenstein's Japanese and South American subsidiaries. The Japanese subsidiary integrated with Lancôme in the new Japanese affiliate, Parfums et Beauté, in 1984.

1984

• Nestlé took over Warner Cosmetics in United States on behalf of L'Oréal's U.S. agent, Cosmair, thereby acquiring for the prestigious names of Ralph Lauren, Paloma Picasso, and Gloria Vanderbilt.

• The company took 10% stake in Canal Plus, French paid TV company.

1985

Obtained Ralph Lauren’s licence.

1988

• From 1988 to 1989, L'Oréal controlled the film company Paravision, whose properties included the Filmation and De Laurentiis libraries.

• L'Oréal bought US-based cosmetic brand, Helena Rubenstein. L'Oréal took a 75% stake in Paravision International, an organisation charged with the creation, production, and distribution of audiovisual products.

1989

• L’Oréal signed a licensing contract with Giorgio Armani.

• L’Oréal consolidated its dermatological expertise and presence in pharmacy networks through the acquisition of La Roche-Posay.

1993

Redken was acquired by L'Oréal for an undisclosed amount.

1994

L'Oréal bought control of Cosmair from Nestlé.

1995

• Acquires two generic drug companies in Germany and in France.

• In the same year, it also acquired Maybelline for $758 million, making them the second largest cosmetic producer after Procter and Gamble.

1996

Lanvin was sold to L’Oréal.

1997

The group acquired EpiSkin, a laboratory specialised in tissue engineering.

1998

L'Oréal acquired SoftSheen and one of SoftSheen’s subsidiaries, Mizani (Swahili for "balance").

2000

Acquired ethnic beauty products maker Carson, cosmetics company Kiehl's, and Matrix Essentials.

2001

• Sold Marie Claire Album to Hachette Filipacchi Medias.

• The company also sold Lanvin to Shaw-Lan Wang, a Taiwanese media magnate.

• It acquired Colorama make-up brand from Revlon and Biomedical, a dermatologist cosmetic brand.

2002

L'Oréal luxury products division has signed a license agreement with Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf.

2004

Acquired major stakes in Shu Uemura.

2006

• On 17 March, L'Oréal purchased The Body Shop for $692 million.

• One of L’Oréal subsidiaries, Episkin, acquired SkinEthic, a leading tissue engineering company.

2007

Acquired PureOlogy Research, hair care products developer and manufacturer.

2008

Acquired 3 Suisse, a French mail-order and e-commerce company. The company ceased its activity in 2014.

2010

Nail polish brand Essie was acquired.

2012

Acquired Urban Decay.

2014

• L'Oréal finalised the acquisition of major Chinese beauty brand Magic Holdings for $840 million.

• L'Oreal had sealed a deal worth $4.18 billion to buy back 8% of its shares from Nestlé. Nestle's shares in L'Oreal reduced from 29.4% to 23.29% while the Bettencourt-Meyers family's shares increased from 30.6% to 33.2%.

• On 20 February, Shiseido sold two of its brands, Carita and Decléor, to L'Oréal for $312.93 million.

• On 18 June, L'Oréal agreed to acquire NYX Cosmetics for an undisclosed price.

• L'Oréal also acquired Carol's Daughter.

2015

L’Oréal acquired Niely Cosmeticos Group in Brazil.

2016

• L'Oréal agreed to acquire IT Cosmetics for $1.2 billion.

• The company also acquired Atelier Cologne and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc.

2017

L'Oréal announced plans to purchase skincare brands CeraVe, AcneFree, and Ambi. The brands were purchased for $1.3 billion in cash.

2018

• L'Oréal announced a brand-new beauty and fragrance partnership with Valentino.

• L'Oréal announced that it had acquired Modiface and all of La Roche-Posay parent company, Societe des thermes de la Roche-Posay.

The ownership of L’Oréal passed down to Schueller’s daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, who passed away at the age of 94 in 2017.

Key figure

Eugène Schueller.