Fragrance maker Coty Inc. added the firepower of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) to its group bidding for Avon Products Inc. (AVP), and submitted a sweetened $10.69 billion offer to try to bring the struggling beauty-products company to the table.

Coty's new offer for $24.75 a share of Avon is 6.5% higher than the prior bid of $23.25. The company is asking Avon's board for a three-week diligence process and private negotiations. It has set a Monday deadline for Avon to respond to the offer, or it would withdraw the proposal.

Avon, which is trying to embark on a turnaround under new Chief Executive Sherilyn McCoy, said it would consider the letter in due course.

In addition to the higher offer, Coty revealed that Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company of famed investor Buffett, has will be contributing equity toward the bid, alongside Coty's principal shareholder Joh. A. Benckiser and others. JP Morgan Securities is financing the deal.

Coty is upping the pressure on Avon after the door-to-door beauty company released yet-another disappointing quarterly earnings report last week, where margins fell much more than expected and the company warned that of prolonged weakness in Brazil, it's largest market, and the U.S.

McCoy, who joined Avon late last month, replacing longtime CEO Andrea Jung, is just starting to wrap her arms around the problems Avon faces, from operational issues like a botched implementation of a information technology platform in Brazil to a shifting landscape for beauty sales across the globe giving consumers more options than door-to-door sellers. She planned to visit a number of Avon's top markets over the next month to try to figure out the top issues to tackle.

Coty says it doesn't intent to wait for Avon to test its stand-alone turnaround plan. Coty is eying Avon for its emerging market footprint and door-to-door sales network, which it hopes can help sell more Coty products in those channel.

Coty said it is prepared to sign a confidentiality agreement with standstill provisions that would restrict it from publicly taking further steps to acquire Avon, as long as the company agrees to provide requested information on a timely basis.

Shares were up 1.1% at $21.85 premarket. The stock is up 24% so far this year.

-By Paul Ziobro, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2194; paul.ziobro@dowjones.com; Twitter: @pziobro

-Melodie Warner contributed to this article.

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