The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that L'Occitane raised US$707.00 million from the IPO after pricing the float at the higher end of its HK$12.88 to HK$15.08 price range.
According to the Financial Times, the listing price values the company at US$2.8 billion and represents a multiple of 21.9 times forecast earnings for the year ending March 2011.
The company has the option of increasing its IPO size by 15 percent to raise up to US$810 million in total as part of an over-allotment option.
The company’s listing prospectus showed that China's sovereign-wealth fund, China Investment Corp invested US$50 million in the IPO.
“L'Occitane's choice of Hong Kong rather than Paris as a listing venue has been a coup for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which has been aggressively seeking foreign listings over the past year,” the Financial Times said.
The company intends to use the cash from the IPO to expand in high-growth markets such as China, Brazil and Russia as well as more mature markets in Japan and the US.
L'Occitane is a French company which exports 75 percent of its products outside Europe, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for nearly half of global sales.
The company posted double-digit annual sales growth in Asian markets, including Hong Kong and Japan, in the two years to March 2009 and plans on expanding its 40 outlets in China.
Source: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, HKHeadlines.com
