L’Occitane International chair Reinold Geiger is set to take the Hong Kong-listed skincare firm private in a HK$13.91bn (£1.4bn) deal, the company announced on Monday.
The deal makes Geiger the majority owner of the French skincare brand with his investment holding company L’Occitane Groupe in Luxembourg paying a 30.8% premium on each share on the stock’s last close on 5 February.
L’Occitane Groupe owned 72.39% of the cosmetics company at the end of March.
This comes after Reuters reported in early April that Geiger was in advanced talks with US private equity giant Blackstone seeking debt financing to fund the deal.
The skincare brand has an estate of 3,000 stores across 90 countries with more than 8,500 employees. In the UK and Ireland, L’Occitane operates out of 65 boutique stores alongside spas and outlets.
In its last trading update for the year ending March 2023, the business reported a falling profit of €118.2m (£101.9m), down from €241.9m (£209.5m) in the previous year.
Geiger said: “Our family has always taken a responsible, long-term view when it comes to developing our company. The cosmetics sector is undergoing profound changes, and our company has significantly transformed into a geographically balanced multi-brand group, marked by strategic acquisitions such as Elemis, Sol de Janeiro, and, most recently, Dr Vranjes Firenze.
“The transaction we are launching today will enable us to focus on rebuilding the foundation for the long-term sustainable growth of our company.”
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