L'Oreal said that the company would be ready to acquire Nestle's 29.5% stake in the French cosmetics giant by next year. This was according to a report from the French daily paper, Les Echos. The paper cited L'Oreal Chief Executive Jean-Paul Agon who had recently talked about the stake acquisition.

The newspaper quoted the cosmetics giant CEO who said that by 2014, L'Oreal would have the means to acquire Nestle's holding. This would be after the expiration of the 10 year mutual right of first refusal from the Bettencourt family would allow Nestle to sell its stake.

Agon told the daily paper that the company would buy Nestle's holding for EUR22 billion. This was according to a front page excerpt of Les Echo's Friday edition. Nestle had announced this week that it would keep all options open referring to its L'Oreal stake.

Last week, the Bettencourt family said that it had no plans of selling its 30.5% stake in L'Oreal. The family responded after speculations had increased about the cosmetic company's shareholder structure change.