L’Occitane’s owner ditches plan to take company private
HONG KONG-listed L’Occitane International on Monday (Sep 4) said that its controlling shareholder had decided against a potential deal to take the skincare company private.
The company had announced to the market last month about a potential buyout offer from chairman Reinold Geiger’s investment holding company, L’Occitane Groupe, at no less than HK$26.00 a share.
Earlier on Monday, a halt was called to trading in Hong Kong ahead of an announcement that may have spelled out details on the French skin-care company’s potential take-private plan.
The firm said in August that its controlling shareholder was considering this move, although it said at the time that it hadn’t received a firm offer and no definitive agreements had been entered into.
Bloomberg News has previously reported that Geiger was looking into the move, including having discussions for a potential offer of as much as HK$35 per share. A vehicle ultimately controlled by him owns more than 70 per cent of L’Occitane, and he has been speaking to advisers about the possibility of relisting the firm on a European exchange as soon as next year, Bloomberg News reported.
A take-private of the company would add to a series of similar deals in Hong Kong as valuations remain depressed. Chinese snack maker Dali Foods Group received a take-private proposal from its controlling shareholder in June, and big-screen cinema company Imax is also seeking to take full control of its listed Chinese business.
L’Occitane, which is based in Luxembourg and Geneva, and its backers raised US$787 million in the company’s 2010 initial public offering (IPO). It listed in Hong Kong at a time when a number of Western consumer companies were seeking to boost exposure to the fast-growing market in China. Hong Kong individual investors ordered almost 160 times the number of L’Occitane shares reserved for them, making it one of the most popular IPOs at the time.
The company’s portfolio includes L’Occitane en Provence, inspired by the lavender fields of southern France, and Melvita organic beauty products. It also owns the Elemis line of collagen creams, as well as the Grown Alchemist range of anti-ageing serums and Korean skin-care brand Erborian. BLOOMBERG
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