J&F Investimentos has poured cold water on rumors that it was set to buy Brazil’s largest cosmetics producer, Natura, according to a report published by Reuters.

A spokesperson from J&F has categorically denied reports, which first surfaced in O Globo, that the company was open to further acquisitions, claiming that the supposition was ‘totally wrong’. However, shares in Natura climbed 2 percent, while JBS saw stocks rise 1.9 percent.

Long thought to be ‘bullet-proof’, Brazil’s cosmetics industry has finally succumbed to the country’s continued economic downturn, with Brazil’s cosmetics and personal care association Abihpec reporting a 6 percent drop in sales for 2015 – a far cry from the double-digit growth it has achieved in the past. “The recession we are experiencing now is truly disasterous,” Abihpec President João Carlos Basilio told WWD. “We are going to have some very challenging years ahead of us.”