Inter Parfums officially announced today that it will be turning over the Burberry fragrance brand on March 31st, 2013, to Burberry. The global luxury brand, headquartered in London, said it will begin directly operating its fragrance and beauty brands.

The licensing relationship with Inter Parfums is scheduled to end on December 31st, 2012, but the two companies have signed a transition agreement, extending it for three additional months. Since Burberry already leads all product design, packaging and marketing activities for fragrance and beauty, the transition is expected to go smoothly. The company must now take control of the sourcing, logistics and distribution partners worldwide, beginning April 1st, 2013.

“Directly operating fragrance and beauty is in line with our strategy of taking greater control over our brand. There are significant opportunities to accelerate the growth of this business over time, leveraging our infrastructure and that of existing key suppliers and distributors,” stated Angela Ahrendts, CEO, Burberry.

Fragrance and beauty will be Burberry’s fifth product division, which already includes accessories, and three apparel categories: womens, mens, and childrens. “We are very excited about fragrance and beauty becoming an important fifth product division for Burberry, as we more closely align it with our core business and brand positioning,” said Ahrendts.

Inter Parfums still partners with an extensive list of prestige beauty brands, including Jimmy Choo, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc, Paul Smith, and Boucheron.