The merger between Estée Lauder and Puig, the owner of Jean Paul Gaultier, fell through due to pricing, Stéphane de La Faverie, President and CEO of the U.S. cosmetics manufacturer, said on Tuesday, while adding that the company remained open to acquisitions if they made financial sense.

Estée Lauder and Puig ended negotiations late last month that would have created a premium beauty giant better positioned to compete with industry leader L'Oréal.

Leaks, disagreements between the powerful families controlling both companies, and demands, including some from makeup mogul Charlotte Tilbury, led to the collapse of the talks, five people with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.

Speaking at a Deutsche Bank consumer conference in Paris, De La Faverie said it was a matter of price.

'If we cannot achieve growth and profitability at the right price, then it is not an option. And that is why, obviously, this deal did not go through, because it was not at the right price,' he said, adding that the company will continue to evaluate opportunities.

The owner of Clinique and MAC said in May that it would cut between 9,000 and 10,000 jobs worldwide as it accelerates its 'Beauty Reinvented' strategy, aiming to save up to $1.2 billion in annual costs.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk; editing by Dominique Patton; Spanish editing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)