L’Occitane majority shareholder cashes in £86m worth of its shares
L’OCCITANE International said its controlling shareholder has sold $136m (£86m) worth of its shares at HK$21.14 (£1.72) each, or a 1.9 per cent discount to Friday’s closing price, in a share placement.
The French skincare products retailer said the share sale allowed its controlling shareholder, the L’Occitane Groupe (LOG), to monetise a small portion of its investment in the business.
LOG’s stake in L’Occitane decreased to 69.2 per cent from 72.6 per cent after selling 50m shares in L’Occitane.
Half of the 364m shares offered in a $708m IPO in April were sold by LOG, at HK$15.08 each. CLSA, HSBC and UBS were the placing agents.
L’Occitane, which manufactures products including almond and olive-based creams, was the first French company to list in Hong Kong and the second, non-Asian business to list there, behind Russia’s Rusal.
The firm recently announced a tie-in deal with Royal Mail to trial evening deliveries of its products. London homes within the M25 motorway will be eligible for the new same-day service.