Nov 23 - Privately held perfume maker Coty Inc has agreed to buy Philosophy Inc, a maker of personal care products, from Carlyle Group in a deal that will add skin care and cosmetics to the Coty Prestige unit.

The deal is valued at around $1 billion, a source familiar with the situation said.

The Philosophy product line, which is sold at retailers such as QVC, Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom Inc , is expected to generate sales of more than $200 million in 2010.

Founded in 1996, Philosophy focuses on skin care, fragrance, bath and body care and color cosmetics. It was acquired by private equity firm Carlyle in March 2007.

Coty had sales of nearly $4 billion for the year ended June 30, 2009 and is the world's largest fragrance company, according to its website. Coty Prestige's brand portfolio includes brands such as Calvin Klein, Kenneth Cole and Davidoff.

Blackstone Advisory Partners served as financial adviser to Coty, while Goldman Sachs advised Philosophy.



By Megan Davies
(Additional reporting by S. John Tilak and Thyagaraju Adinarayan in Bangalore)