Reinold Geiger, the billionaire chairman of L'Occitane International, is moving forward with plans to take the Hong Kong-listed cosmetics company private. His Luxembourg-based investment vehicle, L'Occitane Groupe, will acquire all outstanding shares at a significant premium, potentially valuing the company at $1.78 billion.
The buyout offer of HK$34 per share represents a 30.8% premium over L'Occitane's closing price on February 5th. L'Occitane Groupe, already the majority shareholder with a 72.39% stake, has declared this to be its final offer price.
Financing and Previous Attempts
Geiger previously explored the possibility of taking L'Occitane private, but those talks were halted. For this new attempt, he has reportedly secured potential debt financing from affiliates of Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Group.
L'Occitane International's shares, suspended since April 9th, are scheduled to resume trading on Tuesday. J.P. Morgan is serving as the financial advisor to L'Occitane Groupe in the transaction.
