(Reuters) -Hong Kong-listed L’Occitane International said on Monday Chairman Reinold Geiger has offered minority shareholders an alternative to his existing $1.8 billion cash takeover offer as he pursues to take the skincare firm private.
Geiger, whose firm owns about 72.4% of L’Occitane, is now offering the remaining shareholders an option between the existing HK$34 apiece cash offer and a scrip alternative of 10 shares in the new private entity for every share held.
Shares of L’Occitane, which were listed in Hong Kong in 2010, jumped as much as 2.6% to HK$33.50, their highest level since mid-January 2022.
The Hong Kong debut made Luxembourg-headquartered L’Occitane one of the first Western companies to sell its primary shares in the Asian financial hub at the time.
Shares of the firm have now risen more than 13% since the privatisation offer was first announced on April 29.
The cash offer values the shares Geiger does not already own at a maximum value of HK$13.88 billion ($1.78 billion) including the value of vested options, L’Occitane said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The offer comes at a time when several Hong Kong-listed companies are exploring take-private options in a volatile stock market, and months after Geiger shelved a buyout attempt for the company.
L’Occitane Groupe owns eight brands with more than 3,000 retail locations and 1,300 own stores in 90 countries, according to the company website.
($1 = 7.8099 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
