Blackstone and Goldman Sachs are lining up to provide around $1.6bn in funding to support a potential take-private deal for L’Occitane International by the company’s owner Reinold Geiger, which could value the skincare business at about $7bn including debt, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites unnamed sources familiar with the matter as revealing that Geiger is considering making an offer for the L’Occitane shares he doesn’t already own at HKD33 to HKD34 as early as Monday.
According to exchange filings, a vehicle ultimately controlled by Geiger, L’Occitane’s chairman, already owns more than 70% of the company.
Trading of L’Occitane shares was suspended in Hong Kong on 9 April, pending an announcement related to takeover codes. The stock closed at HKD29.50 a day earlier, giving the company a market value of about $5.6bn.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, talks are ongoing, no final decisions have been made and details such as price and timing could still change.
