Revlon Drops Bid for Gillette

Cosmetics giant Revlon Corp. has scrapped its attempt to seize control of Gillette Co., which will pay $549 million to buy back all the Gillette stock that Revlon accumulated, the razor maker announced today.

A brief statement issued by Boston-based Gillette said it has repurchased 9.2 million of its shares from Revlon for $59.50 and had agreed to reimburse Revlon $9 million for its expenses in trying to assume control of Gillette. Gillette’s stock price closed on Friday at $56.67 1/2 in composite trading.