Coty shunned after calling on Avon with $10bn bid

Avon Products, the cosmetics company, has turned its nose up at a $10bn (£6.24bn) takeover offer from the perfume maker Coty. The bid for Avon is the boldest move so far by its chairman Bart Brecht, who has been running Coty since retiring as chief executive of the household products giant Reckitt Benckiser. Mr Becht decided to go public with details of his offer in an attempt to bounce the Avon board into talks, but they said the company was worth far more.

Acquisition-hungry Coty makes perfumes for the likes of David and Victoria Beckham, Beyoncé and J-Lo, as well as toiletries under its own brand. It is owned by the descendants of Johann Benckiser, one of Reckitt Benckiser's founders.