Burberry to end Interparfums deal
Licence to terminate on 31 December 2012
The director general of the French Interparfums group, Philippe Benacin, has outlined the delicate situation faced by the perfumes and cosmetics enterprise in negotiations over the Burberry licence.
Benacin said that the negotiations, underway since the end of 2011, had proved longer and more complex than envisaged and had led Burberry to exercise its option to end the licence agreement by 31 December this year. Burberry is currently examining all options ahead of this date. Under the contract terms the price of an exit is around €181m.
Benacin added that as far as Interparfums is concerned, the consequences of Burberry either extending its partnership or not had been anticipated. Whatever the outcome of the current discussions, Interparfums is “especially confident and motivated to open a new page in our history”.
The long drawn out discussions focus on a new operational model for a partnership dedicated to the Burberry perfumes and beauty products.
Meanwhile, the assessment by financial markets of Interparfum's position on the Burberry licence pushed the French group's share price down 8% on the Paris Bourse. The market view is that retention of the licence is crucial, given perfumes developed for Burberry account for over 50% of Interparfums' sales.
