Puig has acquired majority control of Jean Paul Gaultier, purchasing the 45% stake held by Hermès International and roughly 15% from the founding couturier.

Manuel Puig, vice chairman of Puig and president of Nina Ricci, will also take on the president title at Gaultier, which the designer will relinquish to focus on designing couture and ready-to-wear collections for women, men and children.

The deal makes Puig, parent of Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera and Paco Rabanne, a bigger player in the fashion world. In 2016, Puig will also get its hands on Gaultier’s lucrative fragrance license, currently held by Beauté Prestige International, a subsidiary of Japan’s Shiseido.

In a statement, Beauté Prestige International (BPI) has insists that it is business as usual for the Jean Paul Gaultier beauty brand.

“This change does not re-question the existing fragrance license contract in force between the house of Jean Paul Gaultier and BPI,” the company says. “The development plans for the Jean Paul Gaultier Parfums brand, including the launch of a new men’s fragrance in France in September 2011, will proceed as agreed.

“BPI will also continue to develop and enlarge its brand portfolio, currently composed of Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier, Narciso Rodriguez and Elie Saab. The Shiseido Group confirms its strategy as a global group, in which BPI, its fragrance division, is an integral contributor to international growth alongside skincare and makeup.”