Shiseido to Buy Bare Escentuals

Shiseido Co. (Tokyo), Japan's largest cosmetics company, has announced plans to acquire the American make-up company Bare Escentuals Inc. (San Francisco) for $1.7 billion. The tender offer, which needs shareholder and regulatory approval, would be the largest buy in Shiseido’s 83-year history.

“This acquisition further enables Shiseido to move towards our goal of becoming a global player representing Asia with its origins in Japan,” Shinzo Maeda, Shisedo’s president and ceo, said in a press release. “We have known and admired Bare Escentuals’ excellent team and their achievements for a long time, and look forward to their contribution to our combined group. The operational fit and future growth prospects make this an excellent transaction for our customers, employees and shareholders.”

Bare Escentuals is a mineral-based cosmetics company that sells its products through select specialty stores and in its own chain of a half-dozen boutiques across the U.S.