Hong Kong-listed luxury goods group L’Occitane is to go private after majority shareholder and chairman Reinold Geiger confirmed he was buying back the skin care group in a deal worth US$6.4 million.
Shares in the group, which has its roots in Provence in France, have been suspended for three weeks on expectation a deal was imminent.
L’Occitane pins fortunes on Blackstone-backed take private
Geiger already controls 70% of the shares and is paying US$1.8 billion to acquire the outstanding equity.
French bank Credit Agricole and US private equity giant Blackstone are among those providing the loans for the buyout
Geiger is offering HK$34 for the shares he doesn’t own, a premium of about 15% to the price before the shares were suspended but 60% above where they were before rumours of the buyout started.
L'Occitane is headquartered in Luxembourg and has roughly 1,300 stores in 90 countries.