(News Bulletin 247) – The main shareholder is on track to take the group off the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, following the success of its takeover bid for the beauty products company.

Beauty products company L’Occitane announced on Tuesday that its main shareholder, Austrian billionaire Reinold Geiger, has successfully completed a bid to buy out all of its shares and delist the group from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The number of shares going to Reinold Geiger, who had offered nearly 1.7 billion euros for the 28% of the capital that he did not already own, is now “above the regulatory threshold” to proceed with the compulsory withdrawal aimed at forcing the remaining shareholders to sell their shares, according to a press release.

The offer, filed in April with the support of American private equity giant Blackstone, values ​​the company at around 6 billion euros.

Founded in 1976 in Manosque (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) by Olivier Baussan, a student in eco-literature, the company known for its skincare products and perfumes raised more than $700 million when it went public in Hong Kong in 2010, taking advantage of optimism for a booming Chinese consumer market. Its share price peaked in 2022 at $32.45 (3.87 euros) in Hong Kong.

The group’s portfolio includes L’Occitane en Provence, but also the French brand Melvita, the Korean line Erborian and Elemis, a British brand.

L’Occitane has nearly 3,000 points of sale in some 90 countries, including 1,300 directly owned stores. The company generates nearly a quarter of its sales in Europe, 41% in North and South America and 35% in Asia-Pacific.

A group on the verge of being “freed from the pressures of the financial market”

In the first half of its staggered financial year, L’Occitane achieved a turnover of 1.1 billion euros, an increase of 19% over one year, for a net profit halved compared to 2023, to 34 million euros, against a backdrop of a significant increase in marketing expenses.

“This transaction will give our group the flexibility to make long-term decisions,” said Reinold Geiger, quoted in the press release.

By not being listed, “the company would be better placed” to address current “concerns” – including increased competition in its largest market in China – according to the stock exchange document detailing the reasoning for the offer, and this, “freed from financial market pressures” and “transparency obligations” and “without having to devote commercial and administrative resources to maintaining the short-term value of its share price”.

(With AFP)