L'Occitane's owner decides against deal to take company private (updated)

L'Occitane International SA

04/09/2023 15:47

(Updates with details and background in paragraphs 3-7)
       Sept 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed skincare specialist
L'Occitane International SA  0973.HK  said on Monday its
controlling shareholder had decided against a potential deal to
take the company private.
    L'Occitane had updated the market last month about a
potential buyout offer from Chairman Reinold Geiger's investment
holding company, L'Occitane Groupe SA, at no less than HK$26.00
per share.
    L'Occitane Groupe SA owned 72.5% of the skincare firm at the
end of May.
    Shares in the Luxembourg- and Geneva-headquartered company
were placed on a trading halt on Monday pending an announcement.
    Last month, Bloomberg News had reported that Geiger was
discussing a possible offer of about HK$35 for each L'Occitane
share he doesn't already own.
    The company later clarified that if a deal were to go
through, the potential offer price would be no less than
HK$26.00 per share.
    Sources had earlier told Reuters that Geiger has also been
speaking to advisers about the possibility of re-listing the
skincare products group on a European exchange as soon as next
year.

 (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Himanshi Akhand in
Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman and David Holmes)
 ((Rishav.Chatterjee@thomsonreuters.com;))