Coty Withdraws Bid for Avon

(Reuters) - Shares of Avon Products Inc fell 14 percent in premarket trading on Tuesday, after Coty Inc withdrew its $10.7 billion takeover bid for the world's largest cosmetics direct seller, saying Avon had missed its deadline to begin discussions. Fragrance company Coty last week raised its unsolicited bid, which had the financial backing of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and others, to $24.75 per share from an earlier $23.25 per share offer, and gave Avon a Monday deadline to respond. Avon's stock fell to $17. ...

Shares of Avon Products Inc.

(Reuters) - Shares of Avon Products Inc fell 14 percent in premarket trading on Tuesday, after Coty Inc withdrew its $10.7 billion takeover bid for the world's largest cosmetics direct seller, saying Avon had missed its deadline to begin discussions.

By Anh Hoang:All direct selling businesses have enjoyed good growth over the years, first in the US, now in the emerging parts of the world.

(Reuters) - Coty Inc said on Monday it is withdrawing its $10.7 billion takeover bid for Avon Products Inc, saying the world's largest cosmetics direct seller had missed its deadl

Fragrance firm Coty withdraws its $10.7bn bid for Avon Products, saying the US beauty firm has taken too long to respond to its offer.

(Reuters) - Beauty product company Coty Inc, whose $10 billion bid for larger rival Avon Products Inc was rejected earlier this month, said it might raise its offer for the direct seller if it were invited to complete due diligence. Coty said it remained interested discussing its proposal with Avon, which appointed a new CEO last week. "At this stage, without being invited to complete due diligence, we have no way of knowing the best price we can ultimately pay to Avon shareholders," the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Juhi Arora in Bangalore; Editing by Viraj Nair)

By Rupert Nicholson:Avon Products (AVP) is a beauty products producer and marketer. It reported revenue of $11.3 billion in 2011. It also recorded operating income of $855 million and a net income of $518 million. As of the end of 2011, it manages total assets of $7.735 billion.