Beauty and skincare brand L’Occitane saw a jump in share price on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as the controlling shareholder is in advanced talks on a potential deal to take the company private.
The company’s chair and chief executive, Reinold Geiger, controls three-quarters of the shares of L’Occitane and is in advanced talks to take the firm private at a valuation of around $6.5bn (£5.1bn), Bloomberg reported.
L’Occitane denied the reported valuation calling it “false and without basis”, but said it would value a share at no less than HK$26 (£2.62) if a potential deal were to go through bringing the total valuation to £3.78bn.
The skincare retailer 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 its spas and outlets.
Following the news, L’Occitane’s shares jumped 10% to HK$28 (£2.82) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday afternoon – 40% growth since last month.
In its last trading update for the year ending March 2023, the business reported a falling profit of €118.2m (£101.9m), compared to €241.9m (£209.5m) the previous year.
At the time, Geiger said: “In FY2023, we continued our transformation into a geographically-balanced multi-brand group. Like all global groups, we faced a challenging macroeconomic landscape compounded further by unique headwinds in China, one of our largest growth markets. Yet, once again, we proved our resilience and agility in navigating the difficult environment.”
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