Coty Inc. withdrew its US$10.7-billion takeover bid for Avon yesterday.

Avon, the world’s largest cosmetics direct seller missed its deadline to begin discussions.

Fragrance Company Coty, raised it’s unsolicited bid last week, giving Avon until Monday to respond.

“We are struck by Avon’s continued lack of communication with Coty,” Bernstein Research analyst Ali Dibadj told Reuters.

“A bid with financial backing and reasonable starting point in terms of price must be looked at in order to fulfill one’s fiduciary duty to shareholders.”…

Avon, which had rejected all of Coty’s earlier bids without entering into discussions, said on Sunday it would respond to Coty’s latest offer within a week.

However, Coty withdrew its proposal on May 14, five days after raising its bid.

Avon, whose earnings have dropped in recent years, hopes to plot a turnaround for both  home and international markets, under its new chief executive, Sherilyn S. McCoy, formerly a vice chairman of Johnson & Johnson. 

Coty has bought Philosophy, a personal care product line, and TJoy, a Chinese skin care company, within the last year.

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Nicole Siena is an intern for the  Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter at  @nicolesiena

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