Avon to respond to Coty’s revised $10.7-bn offer within a week

Avon Products today said it will respond to Coty's takeover offer within a week after the fragrance-maker last week sweetened its unsolicited bid to $10.7 billion.

The New York-based company said in a statement, ''Avon Products today advised Coty Inc. that Avon's Board of Directors, in conjunction with management and the company's financial and legal advisors, will consider Coty's letter dated May 9, 2012. Avon's Board expects to respond within a week.''

Last month Avon rejected Coty's original $10-billion unsolicited offer, saying the bid undervalued the company. (See: Avon rejects Coty's $10 billion takeover offer) 

Avon, whose brands include Skin-So-Soft, Anew and Mark has since appointed former Johnson & Johnson executive Sherilyn McCoy as chief executive officer in order to turn around the company after losing 30 per cent of its value in the past year due to declining sales and by an ongoing investigation into allegations of bribery by its executives in China.

Coty is attracted to Avon's door-to-door distribution channel and its potential combination with its own mass beauty brands.

Coty sells its products through a network of department stores, specialty retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, mass-market retailers, and duty free shops in airports and cities in Europe, North America and Asia.