L'Occitane share sales in Asia to boost expansion
Provencal cosmetics group hopes to raise $700m from its sale of shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange
Provencal cosmetics group L'Occitane was hoping to raise $700m from its sale of shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange ahead of its 7 May listing. The company has also said it hopes to acquire two or three Asian brands. The price of shares on offer was between HK$12.88 and HK$15.08, making the offer equivalent to 25% of L'Occitane's capital, currently estimated at $2.8bn or €2.1bn.
L'Occitane's progress in recent years has been notably successful with annual average growth as high as 30%. Sales in the 12 months ending March 2009 reached €537m with net earnings of around €59m. Sales growth this year is set to reach 14%.
The move to the Hong Kong market, announced earlier, reflects the company's current urgent need for more capital to fund expansion. The Asia Pacific region now accounts for 35% of the company’s sales. Japan is its leading market, accounting for 24% of sales compared with 13% only for France.
