Samsonite slumps as dual-listing plan dents buyout speculation

SAMSONITE International shares dropped as the luggage maker’s plans to pursue a second listing risks hurting hopes for a takeover from global buyout firms.

The counter dropped 12 per cent in early Hong Kong trading on Friday (Mar 22). The company did not specify which exchange it was looking at, but said the move would increase liquidity of the company’s shares and help the firm reach global investors. The pursuit of a dual listing is at an early stage, chairman Timothy Charles Parker said.

Samsonite’s announcement comes after the company fielded interest from suitors looking at an acquisition. Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that global buyout firms including Carlyle Group and KKR & Co had shown preliminary interest in a potential takeover, with some firms considering acquiring the company and later relisting it in another market at a higher valuation. Samsonite has studied the possibility of a second listing in the US, Bloomberg reported last year.

Samsonite is being buffeted by growing economic headwinds in China, where a property market crash and elevated youth unemployment weakened the spending power of Chinese consumers who once splashed out on products from major global brands.

The company, which raised about HK$10 billion (S$1.7 billion) in its Hong Kong initial public offering in 2011, is one of several major consumer brands now considering their options as a stock market slump weighs on valuation.

Li Ning is considering taking his eponymous sportswear brand private from the Hong Kong stock market, Reuters reported earlier this month, though the Chinese gymnast-turned-entrepreneur later said he did not plan to pursue the move. Meanwhile, billionaire Reinold Geiger is making a renewed push to take cosmetics firm L’Occitane International private. BLOOMBERG