Doubts remain as to whether the owner of L'Occitane Groupe will finally succumb to the put options. As reported by Reuters news agency this morning, the company's Hong Kong-listed shares fell by almost 30% yesterday. The reason for the sharp decline was the chairman and majority shareholder's rejection of the privatisation sale, ending speculation of an exit from the European stock market.
L'Occitane shares fell to $19.70 after the group's chairman, Reinold Geiger, who controls 70% of L'Occitane Groupe, refused the takeover bid. The sale was first reported by the Bloomberg news agency in July but indicated that the share price could be as low as $26 per share.
L'Occitane insiders have told Reuters that the group is considering a possible re-listing on a European stock exchange as early as next year.
The group's current chairman, Reinolg Geiger, has managed to double L'Occitane's sales in the last shop and the group has established itself with 3,000 outlets in 90 countries. Nevertheless, the company continues to lag behind its cosmetics counterparts, such as L'Oréal.
Hong Kong is now emerging as a buying epicentre, as Italian fashion house Prada has sought a dual listing in Italy alongside its listing in Hong Kong. This is because it is an opportunity for Western companies to expand and make themselves known to the Chinese market and the Asian consumer. L'Occitane Groupe has been listed in Hong Kong since 2010 and was one of the first Western companies to sell its core shares in the Chinese city which is considered the financial centre of Asia.