Avon Shares Rise on Report That Makeup Company Will Sell Stake

NEW YORK, United States — Avon Products Inc. shares rose on a report that the cosmetics company is in talks to sell a stake to private-equity firms.

Avon has been in discussions with firms such as Cerberus Capital Management and Platinum Equity, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday. Bids for the transaction — known as a private investment in public equity, or PIPE — are due next week, said the newspaper, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter.

While such a deal would help bolster Avon’s finances, it’s one of several options the company is considering and there’s no assurance that the transaction will happen, the Journal said.

The stock jumped as much as 13 percent after the report was published, but soon drifted back down. It was up 1.5 percent to $4.50 as of 2:14 p.m. in New York.

Lindsay Fox, a spokeswoman for Avon, declined to comment.

By Nick Turner and Lauren Coleman-Lochner.