L'Occitane buyout is bad look for Hong Kong
10/08/2023 04:31
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are her own.)
By Robyn Mak
HONG KONG, Aug 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Founder
Reinold Geiger wants full ownership of his skincare group. At $7
bln, it would be the city’s largest take-private and L’Occitane
could relist at a higher valuation at home in Europe. It’s a
no-brainer others will want to copy and shows up the Asian hub’s
helplessness.
Full view will be published shortly.
Follow @mak_robyn on Twitter
CONTEXT NEWS
Hong Kong-listed L'Occitane International's controlling
shareholder is in advanced talks on a potential deal to take the
beauty and cosmetics company private ahead of a European
listing, Reuters reported on Aug. 9, citing people familiar with
the matter. The shares were halted on the same day pending an
announcement from the company.
Chairman Reinold Geiger is discussing a possible offer of
HK$35 for each share he doesn't already own, a 37% premium to
the stock's closing price on Aug. 8, Bloomberg reported, citing
sources. The deal will value the company's equity at HK$51.7
billion ($6.6 billion). Geiger owned 72.7% of the company as of
end-March, L’Occitane’s annual report shows.
(Editing by Una Galani and Katrina Hamlin)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on MAK/
SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS https://bit.ly/BVsubscribe
| robyn.mak@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
robyn.mak.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))