Coty Inc.

The company traces its origins to the perfumer François Coty, who established the business in Paris in 1904. Over the following decades it grew into an international fragrance and cosmetics operation and passed through several corporate owners. In 1963 Coty was acquired by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer [3]. It later came under the control of Joh. A. Benckiser, the German-rooted investment vehicle now known as JAB Holding Company, which purchased Coty in 1992 [3].

Under JAB's ownership the company pursued an aggressive expansion strategy through the 2000s and 2010s, adding nail care, colour cosmetics and a wide roster of licensed designer fragrances. A defining moment came in 2013, when Coty carried out an initial public offering that raised approximately one billion US dollars and listed the company on public markets [3]. The transformational deal followed in 2016, when Coty acquired 41 beauty brands from Procter & Gamble, a transaction that brought mass cosmetics names and a large portfolio of licensed fragrances into the group and roughly doubled its scale.

Coty organises its holdings across mass-market beauty and prestige fragrance and skincare. Among the brands it owns outright are the colour-cosmetics lines Rimmel, Bourjois, Max Factor, CoverGirl, Sally Hansen and Manhattan, alongside the skincare brand Philosophy and the fragrance labels Lancaster and Jovan. In hair care and styling, the group owns the professional brands Wella and ghd. It also holds a majority interest in Kylie Cosmetics, the colour brand associated with Kylie Jenner.

A large part of Coty's fragrance business runs on licensing agreements rather than ownership. Under these arrangements the group produces and distributes scents on behalf of fashion and designer houses, including Burberry, BOSS, Davidoff, Calvin Klein, Escada, JOOP!, Mexx and Vera Wang, as well as celebrity and character lines such as those linked to Sarah Jessica Parker, David Beckham and James Bond. The company's own about page describes its portfolio as more than 50 brands spanning fragrance, colour cosmetics and skin and body care [2].

Acquisitions have been central to how Coty has grown. In 2010 the company acquired OPI Products, expanding its position in nail care [4]. It bought the French cosmetics house Bourjois in 2014 [4], and two years later completed its largest deal, the 2016 purchase of 41 beauty brands from Procter & Gamble that added CoverGirl, Max Factor, Wella and numerous licensed fragrance lines [3].

The group later moved into the celebrity-brand segment. In 2019 it purchased a 51 percent stake in Kylie Cosmetics for 600 million US dollars [3], and in 2020 it acquired a 20 percent stake in KKW Beauty, the brand founded by Kim Kardashian [4]. Together these deals reflect a strategy of pairing established mass and prestige brands with high-visibility celebrity ventures.

Coty is a public company. Its Class A shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker COTY. The investment group JAB Holding Company, which has controlled the business since its 1992 purchase, remains the majority owner and held approximately 52 percent of Coty's shares as of September 2024 [3].