Hutchison Whampoa to Buy French Retailer Marionnaud
Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, has struck a deal to buy ailing French perfume-and-cosmetics retailer Marionnaud Parfumeries, a move that will raise Hutchison's retail presence in Europe and make it one of the world's biggest purveyors of beauty products.
Hutchison's A.S. Watson Group subsidiary, which has retail and manufacturing interests across Asia and Europe, said it had agreed to buy Marionnaud for �534 million ($700 million).
Marcel Frydman , Marionnaud's chairman and biggest single shareholder, said the tie-up with A.S. Watson would protect the perfume company's future.
"Certainly, there are problems at Marionnaud," he said, "but there are also an enormous number of good things." The company's shares fell sharply in late 2004 in the wake of an accounting scandal.
The price decline has made the company an attractive target for the 76-year-old Mr. Li, a contrarian investor with a reputation for scooping up distressed assets.
A.S. Watson, based in Hong Kong, said it wants to "revitalize Marionnaud" by leveraging the firm's brand and integrating it into Watson's global chain of retail outlets, which would grow to more than 5,660 health-and-beauty stores with the acquisition. Watson doesn't operate any stores in France, though it has more than 3,500 in 10 other countries in Europe plus about 950 stores in Asia.
Watson has been adding to its European health-and-beauty portfolio during the past few years. Last year it bought Drogas, a chain operating in Latvia and Lithuania. In 2002 it paid $1.6 billion for the Kruidvat Group, which runs stores in the Netherlands and Belgium. It also operates the Savers and Superdrug chains in the U.K.
Last year, however, Hutchison sold its 20% stake in a Chinese joint venture with Procter & Gamble Co. through which the two companies sold products like shampoo, moisturizer and toothpaste in China.
Watson is offering �21.80 ($28.58) a share -- a premium of nearly 25% over Marionnaud's most-recent traded price. Ian Wade, Watson's group managing director, said the price had been set high to head off any counterbid and to persuade minority shareholders to support the offer.
Watson said Crédit Agricole SA's private-equity arm, which holds nearly 9% of the perfume retailer, has accepted the offer, while Belgian financier Albert Frere, with a stake of about 5%, is "talking on very friendly terms" with Watson's management. Mr. Wade said he aims to complete the transaction by the end of March.
Friday's deal brings to an end a turbulent few weeks for Marionnaud's Mr. Frydman, who built up the family-run business from just a handful of stores in France in the mid-1980s to become one of Europe's leading perfume retailers with more than 1,200 stores -- only to see it slide into financial crisis amid the recent accounting scandal. Last month, the 73-year-old executive said that because of accounting errors, the company had incurred a �79 million loss for the first half of 2004. The disclosure sent Marionnaud's shares into a nosedive, sparked rumors of an imminent takeover bid and raised serious questions about how the company was being managed. France's stock-market regulator is expected to complete an investigation into Marionnaud's accounting difficulties by autumn. Trading in its shares was suspended in Paris last Tuesday.
Mr. Frydman will remain chairman of the company, though a new six-person board will be appointed, with A.S. Watson holding four of the six seats. New senior executives are likely to be brought in from the outside. Marionnaud has 566 stores in France and another 138 in Italy. It is the largest French perfumery and cosmetic retailer, with a 30% market share.
和记黄埔将收购法国香水和化妆品零售商Marionnaud
由亿万富翁李嘉诚掌控的香港企业集团和记黄埔(Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.)达成协议，收购处境不佳的法国香水和化妆品零售商Marionnaud Parfumeries。此举将会提升和记黄埔零售业务在欧洲的地位，并使之成为世界最大的美容产品供应商。
和记黄埔旗下子公司屈臣氏(A.S. Watson Group)表示，已同意出价5.34亿欧元（合7亿美元）收购Marionnaud。屈臣氏在亚洲和欧洲拥有零售和制造业务。
Marionnaud董事长、公司最大股东Marcel Frydman称，同屈臣氏的联姻将使Marionnaud的未来得到保障。
Frydman说，Marionnaud的确存在问题，但也有许多好的方面。在Marionnaud暴出会计丑闻后，该公司股价在2004年年末大幅下跌。
Marionnaud股价的下跌使得该公司成为了现年76岁的香港大亨李嘉诚的理想收购对象。李嘉诚以收购问题资产而闻名。
屈臣氏称，希望通过利用Marionnaud的品牌优势以及将该公司融入屈臣氏的全球零售产业链来重振Marionnaud。收购Marionnaud后，屈臣氏的健康美容店数量将增至5,660家以上。屈臣氏在法国没有任何商店，但在其他10个欧洲国家经营有逾3,500家店，在亚洲有大约950家店。
屈臣氏近几年来一直在拓展其在欧洲的健康美容业务。去年，该公司收购了在拉脱维亚和立陶宛展开业务的连锁企业Drogas。2002年，屈臣氏斥资16亿美元收购了在荷兰和比利时经营有健康美容店的Kruidvat Group。屈臣氏还在英国经营有Savers和Superdrug连锁店。
屈臣氏的出价为每股21.80欧元（合28.58美元），较Marionnaud最新股价溢价近25%。屈臣氏的董事总经理Ian Wade说，此出价设得较高，这是为了抵御反竞价和说服小股东支持该出价。
Frydman仍将担任Marionnaud的董事长。但Marionnaud的6人董事会将被重新任命，屈臣氏将占有董事会中的4个席位。Marionnaud在法国有566家店，在意大利另有138家店。Marionnaud是法国最大的香水和化妆品零售商，其市场占有率为30%。
