The chairman and controlling shareholder of Hong Kong-listed skincare specialist L’Occitane International said he has decided against a deal to take the company private.
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Chairman Reinold Geiger said his investment holding company, L’Occitane Groupe SA, has decided not to go ahead with a take-private offer it last month said would be worth no less than HKD 26.00 (USD 3.32) a share.
Geiger currently owns some 70 percent of the group, whose portfolio includes France’s L’Occitane en Provence; organic beauty brand, Melvita; skincare brand, Elemis, as well the Grown Alchemist skincare range, Sol de Janeiro, and Korean skincare brand, Erborian.
Headquartered in Luxembourg and Geneva, L’Occitane International listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010, raising USD 787 million in its initial public offering, according to Bloomberg.
The company’s stock has fallen 14 percent over the past 12 months, giving the company a market value of about HKD 33 billion (USD 4.2 billion). When Geiger announced confirmed he planned to not take the group private on September 5, shares in the company were slashed another 30 percent following the news.
Earlier this year, L’Occitane reported sales for the nine months ended December 31 reached EUR 1.6 billion (USD 1.76 billion), representing 16.5 percent growth at reported rates and 10.6 percent growth at constant rate.