After months of speculation, the dust might soon settle on the L’Occitane Group’s privatization deal.
L’Occitane is nearing a buyout deal with Blackstone to take the Hong Kong-listed French skin care company private, according to a Bloomberg News report on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
L’Occitane, the 43.47 billion Hong Kong dollar, or $5.55 billion, company halted trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning pending an announcement of a takeover deal, according to a company filing.
The structure of the deal is not immediately clear, according to a Reuters report. L’Occitane could not be reached for comment.
Last September, L’Occitane’s billionaire owner Reinold Geiger decided against a potential take-private deal, citing unfavorable market conditions and financing structure.
Geiger, who owns more than 70 percent of the company, told investors last August that he was considering potential buyout deals that would value the company at no less than 26 Hong Kong dollars, or $3.32, a share.
In a bet to capture the fast growing Chinese consumer market, L’Occitane went public in Hong Kong in 2010.
The French beauty group’s portfolio includes L’Occitane en Provence; L’Occitane au Brésil; France’s Melvita; South Korea’s Erborian; American brand LimeLife by Alcone, and the group’s beauty start-up Duolab, which was launched in early 2020.
To increase its presence in the clean beauty market, the company acquired Elemis, Sol de Janeiro and Grown Alchemist in recent years.
Last month L’Occitane sold Grown Alchemist’s majority stake to André Hoffman, the group’s former vice chairman and former chief executive officer, who remains a board member. Anna Teal, Grown Alchemist’s CEO, is now a minority shareholder. The transaction was priced at 28 million euros.
L’Occitane acquired a majority share of Grown Alchemist in March 2022 from boutique investment bank Lempriere Wells. At the time, industry sources said that the purchase price was in excess of 50 million Australian dollars, or $32.5 million today.
