L'Occitane sets a high bar for Hong Kong exits
30/04/2024 10:13
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are her own.)
By Robyn Mak
HONG KONG, April 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chairman
Reinold Geiger's offer to take his skincare group private values
it at 6 bln euros, a decent 30% premium. Funding led by
Blackstone might help keep a lid on interest expenses while the
company restructures and seeks a listing in Europe. Other
buyouts will be trickier.
Full view will be published shortly.
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CONTEXT NEWS
A group controlled by L'Occitane chairman and controlling
shareholder Reinold Geiger has offered to take the Hong
Kong-listed company private in a deal that values the firm at 6
billion euros excluding debt, the company announced on April 29.
The buyout group, which jointly holds 72.64% of the
Luxembourg-based company, has offered HK$34 per share for the
rest it does not already own. That represents a premium of 31%
over the stock's closing price on Feb. 5, the last trading day
before news that Blackstone was considering a bid was reported
by media. The buyers said they will not increase the price.
The consideration of around 1.7 billion euros will be
financed by external debt facilities and a shareholder's loan in
turn funded by a paid-in-kind loan note, the company said.
Affiliates of Blackstone and Goldman Sachs will provide about
1.5 billion euros in financing, someone familiar with the deal
told Breakingviews.
L'Occitane shares were up 9.7% during early afternoon
trading in Hong Kong on April 30, at HK$32.35, after its shares
were halted on April 9.
(Editing by Una Galani and Katrina Hamlin)
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