Key Takeaways:What began as a merger of equals increasingly evolved into what Puig viewed as a takeover attempt by Estée Lauder.Puig is telling investors it is not for sale and viewed the talks as exceptional.Charlotte Tilbury learned about the merger talks only after details leaked publicly.Now that Estée Lauder and Puig have officially ended their merger talks, it feels like the American and Spanish beauty conglomerates are in couples therapy, trying to shape the narrative around why the talks failed and who ultimately walked away.While the two groups publicly announced last week that they had mutually agreed to end the merger discussions after disclosing in March that they were in talks, Estée Lauder has privately told industry insiders that they were the ones who decided to back out of the deal, according to sources familiar with the matter.Puig is expected to provide more details on what went wrong on Friday at its annual general meeting.Behind the scenes, the potential tie-up had already been unraveling for weeks amid mounting disagreements over Puig’s valuation and the control of the combined company, the sources said.Clash of the Beauty TitansThe discussions initially began as a merger of equals. As negotiations progressed, however, they increasingly devolved into what Puig viewed as a takeover attempt by Estée Lauder at a valuation Puig never accepted and considered too low—between €18 and €19 per share ($21 to $22)—despite the market largely assuming the Spanish group had agreed to it.