Nearly two years after Shiseido Co. bought American makeup brand Bare Escentuals Inc. for USD1.7 billion, the biggest acquisition in its history, the share price of Japan's leading cosmetics company has sagged 30 percent and analysts have openly questioned the deal.

But in three months, the two will deliver their first jointly developed product line more broadly in Asia, a step they hope will help to convince skeptics that the acquisition is paying off.

The hurdles the two businesses faced in creating the new product line – bareMinerals Skincare – in some ways mirror the pitfalls that have wrecked so many cross-border marriages in the past: lack of communication, dissimilar cultures and conflicting business visions.

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