• Offer price of HK$34.00 in cash per share is final and represents approximately 60.83% premium to undisturbed 60-trading day average closing price of HK$21.14 per share.
• €1.7 billion take-private transaction values 100% of L’Occitane International S.A. at €6.0 billion on an equity value basis.
• Proposed privatisation unlocks immediate value for minority shareholders and aims to provide greater flexibility in making longer-term business decisions.
• Shareholders representing 25.79% of the Offer Shares held by Disinterested Shareholders have already committed to tender their shares, and an additional 12.17% have committed to recommend the offer or provided support letters.

HONG KONG and LUXEMBOURG, April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of L’Occitane International S.A. (the “Company”), (Stock Code: 0973.HK) today announced that L’Occitane Groupe S.A. (“Offeror”), the controlling shareholder of the Company, has offered to acquire all shares in the Company (other than treasury shares) that Offeror does not already own (“Offer Shares”), with the intention to privatise and delist the Company from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The rationale is to allow the current management team, which would remain in place, to continue operations of the Company’s business as it is and invest in long-term sustainable growth initiatives as a privately held company.

Offeror is ultimately controlled by Reinold Geiger, the Chairman and director of both the Company and Offeror. Offeror and its concert parties own 72.64% of issued and outstanding shares in the Company.

Offeror has offered a purchase price of HK$34.00 per share in cash (the “Offer”). Offeror has indicated the offer price is final and will not be increased further.

Offeror intends to finance the consideration through a combination of external debt facilities provided by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CA-CIB), with additional financing capital provided by funds managed by Blackstone Inc. and its affiliates and Goldman Sachs Asset Management International or its affiliates.

In response, the Board has established an Independent Board Committee (the “IBC”) comprised solely of dedicated independent non-executive directors to evaluate the Offer and make a recommendation to minority shareholders as to whether the Offer is fair and reasonable and as to acceptance. Somerley Capital Limited, as Independent Financial Adviser, has been appointed by the Company, and approved by the IBC, to advise the IBC in connection with the Offer. The IBC’s recommendation will be included in a composite document to be jointly published by Offeror and the Company (“Composite Document”), which will officially commence the Offer.

Flexibility to invest in longer-term growth initiatives

A combination of industry dynamics and pressures of operating as a listed company underlies the rationale for the transaction.

Offeror believes that, in order to maintain and invigorate the respective market shares of the Company’s brands in an increasingly competitive environment, significant further investment in marketing, store refurbishment, IT infrastructure and attracting talent are of vital importance. These investments would entail incurring more expenses in order to lay the foundation for longer-term growth.

The Offer provides greater flexibility to the Company, as a privately-operated business, to pursue strategic investments and more efficiently implement strategies, free from the pressures of the capital markets’ expectations, regulatory costs and disclosure obligations, share price fluctuations, and sensitivity to short-term market and investor sentiment. This flexibility is particularly important because competition in the global skincare and cosmetics industry continues to intensify with the entry of new international and local brands.

Privatising the Company would better address these challenges by enabling the Company to more efficiently and effectively implement strategies that are vital for longer-term sustainable growth.

Unlocking shareholder value at a compelling premium

For minority shareholders, this transaction provides an attractive opportunity to monetise their investments at a premium over market price. The offer price exceeds the all-time high closing price of HK$33.60 per share since the Company’s IPO in 2010, and represents:

• A premium of approximately 30.77% over the undisturbed closing price of HK$26.00 per share as quoted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 5 February 2024, the last trading day prior to the leak in the press around the existence of discussions between Offeror and certain third parties to take the Company private (the “Leak Date”);
• a premium of approximately 49.91% and 60.83% over the undisturbed average closing price of approximately HK$22.68 per share and HK$21.14 per share for the 30 and 60 consecutive trading days up to the last trading day prior to the Leak Date, respectively.

In addition to a compelling valuation, the Offer would allow shareholders to realise their investment in the Company for cash amidst an uncertain market climate marked by geopolitical factors and uncertain sentiment in the broader equity markets, among others.

The Offer is particularly compelling in light of the prolonged low trading liquidity of the Company’s shares, which makes it challenging for minority shareholders and vested option holders to sell a substantial amount of shares without adversely affecting the share price.

Additionally, appropriate arrangements have been made for holders of options and free shares of the Company to enable all holders interested in the Company’s securities to realise their investment in the Company for cash.

In sum, Offeror believes that a take-private transaction in its current form allows shareholders to derive maximum benefit and avoid exposure to uncertain market conditions.

Intention to retain employees, pursue long-term sustainable growth

For the Company’s employees and business partners, the transaction would provide the Company with greater flexibility in making longer-term focused business decisions and pursuing long-term sustainable growth. Offeror has stated its intention to continue operating the Company’s business and retain employees across all geographies, other than the changes that would occur in the ordinary course of business.

Reinold Geiger, current majority owner of the Company and of Offeror, said: “Our family has always taken a responsible, long-term view when it comes to developing our company. The cosmetics sector is undergoing profound changes, and our company has significantly transformed into a geographically balanced multi-brand group, marked by strategic acquisitions such as ELEMIS, Sol de Janeiro, and, most recently, Dr. Vranjes Firenze. The transaction we are launching today will enable us to focus on rebuilding the foundation for the long-term sustainable growth of our company.”

Terms and timing of the Offer

The Offer is subject to a minimum 90% acceptance threshold by shareholders other than Offeror or its concert parties (the “Disinterested Shareholders”).

Offeror has received Irrevocable Undertakings from existing Disinterested Shareholders representing in total approximately 25.79% of the Offer Shares held by Disinterested Shareholders to accept the offer. In addition, Disinterested Shareholders representing approximately 12.17% of the Offer Shares held by Disinterested Shareholders have committed to recommend the offer or provided Non-binding Letters of Support.

Offeror intends to conduct a squeeze-out of shares not tendered to the Offer, if it acquires not less than 90% of Offer Shares held by Disinterested Shareholders by 26 August 2024 (or as otherwise extended).

The timing of the Offer will commence upon publication of the Composite Document, which will be published at a later date.

Additional information about the Offer, as well as appropriate arrangements for holders of options and free shares of the Company, can be found in the 3.5 announcement published on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited is acting as exclusive financial adviser to Offeror. Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CA-CIB) and Corporate Finance International (CFI Group) are acting as exclusive financial advisers to Offeror in connection with the raising of capital and the overall structuring of the financing.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is acting as global legal counsel to Offeror and Arendt & Medernach is acting as Luxembourg counsel to Offeror.

About L’Occitane International S.A.

L’Occitane International S.A. is an international multi-brand group that manufactures and retails premium beauty and wellness products. The Company operates in 90 countries worldwide and has more than 3,000 retail outlets, including over 1,300 of its own stores. Within its portfolio of premium beauty brands that champion organic and natural ingredients are: L’OCCITANE en Provence, Melvita, Erborian, L’OCCITANE au Brésil, LimeLife, ELEMIS, Sol de Janeiro and Dr. Vranjes Firenze.

With its nature-positive vision and entrepreneurial ethos, it is committed to investing in communities, biodiversity, reducing waste and to finding sustainable solutions to create a better and healthier planet. L’Occitane International S.A. is a certified B Corporation.

As at the date of this press release, the executive directors of L’Occitane International S.A. are Mr. Reinold Geiger (Chairman), Mr. André Hoffmann, Mr. Laurent Marteau (Chief Executive Officer), Mr. Karl Guénard (Company Secretary) and Mr. Séan Harrington (Chief Executive Officer of ELEMIS), the non-executive Director is Mr. Thomas Levilion, and the independent non-executive Directors are Mrs. Christèle Hiss Holliger, Mr. Charles Mark Broadley, Ms. Betty Liu and Mr. Jackson Chik Sum Ng, who jointly and severally accept full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this announcement (other than the information relating to the Offer, and the Offeror and parties acting in concert with it) and confirm, having made all reasonable enquiries, that to the best of their knowledge, opinions expressed in this press release (other than the opinions expressed by the directors of Offeror in their capacity as directors of Offeror) have been arrived at after due and careful consideration and there are no other facts not contained in this announcement, the omission of which would make any statement in this announcement misleading.

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USA News Group Commentary

VANCOUVER, BC, April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — USA News Group – As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to permeate the corporate landscape, its potential economic impact is becoming increasingly clear. According to McKinsey & Company’s recent analysis, which spans 63 different use cases, the data suggests that generative AI could contribute as much as $7.9 trillion to the global economy annually in the foreseeable future. The market has already responded, as the Cloud & AI Confidence Index reached nearly $8 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, showing the potential for generative AI to be “unlimited”. One major aspect of the AI revolution is the rapid progression of deep machine learning and neural networks, which are each making major strides thanks to the advancements being made by developers, such as Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) (NEO: TSLA), Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR), ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) (NEO: NOWS), and Scope AI Corp. (CSE: SCPE) (OTCQB: SCPCF).

With the endless possibilities for deep machine learning being revealed consistently across several sectors, AI-based tech developer Scope AI Corp. (CSE: SCPE) (OTCQB: SCPCF) recently underwent a name change and broadened its scope of potential clientele—no pun intended. Branching beyond its previous AI efforts involving agriculture, Scope has shifted the focus of its proprietary asset called GEM (General Enterprise Machine Learning) to be used in such sectors as digital marketing/advertising, and online gaming.

As part of the operational shift, the company recently announced veteran Adtech, Gaming and Publishing executive James Young as its new CEO. Young brings over 25 years of leadership experience to Scope AI, with the intention to branch out GEM’s capabilities to new sectors and potential clientele.

“We are thrilled to welcome James as our new CEO,” said James Liang, former CEO of Scope AI. “With his extensive experience and leadership qualities, we are confident that James will guide Scope to new heights and deliver value to our shareholders, customers, and employees.”

According to the company’s new website, Scope‘s initial target markets will be the advertising and gaming industries, and upon successful beta testing, the company will expand to several other industries to meet the demands of businesses.

At its core, GEM is designed to allow businesses to create their own object detection, visual information systems, and a complete neural network. With its intuitive web-interface, Scope sees GEM helping retail businesses easily set up an object detection system to monitor inventory levels and customer interactions in real-time, with capabilities for CRM, enhanced login and account security, and data encryption.

“I am honored to lead Scope AI and very excited about the opportunity to work with such a talented team with incredible tech,” said James Young, new CEO of Scope AI. “Together, we will build a strong foundation and drive sustainable growth in the years ahead.”

Another CEO that’s championing AI and sees where it is headed is one of the Top 3 richest people in the world, namely Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) (NEO: TSLA). According to Musk, not only is AI advancing rapidly, but he believes that the tech sector will achieve what’s known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) within the next two years. The concept of AGI is that of a theoretical AI system with capabilities that rival or even surpass those of a human, which many researchers believe we are still decades, if not centuries, away from achieving.

Musk sees this challenge and is engaging in what he calls the “craziest talent war I’ve ever seen” to secure the best AI engineers on the planet, having recently boosted his company’s engineers’ pay grades to keep them away from potential poachers. Another bold idea that Musk has recently floated is the potential use of Tesla’s massive fleet of EVs to power a cloud computing service that would rival Amazon’s AWS.

“There’s a potential… when the car is not moving to actually run distributed inference,” said Musk on a recent earnings call with investors. “If you imagine the future perhaps where there’s a fleet of 100 million Teslas and on average, they’ve got like maybe a kilowatt of inference compute. That’s 100 gigawatts of inference compute, distributed all around the world.”

Meanwhile, Tesla is also enticing customers with a 33% drop in price for its Full Self-Driving software in its vehicles. Musk has even claimed that Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities are “appreciating assets,” potentially valued between $100,000 and $200,000—due to their potential as robotaxis. Tesla first released its FSD v12 earlier this year, letting its vehicle’s controls to be handled by neural nets rather than being coded by programmers.

Much like Scope AI‘s GEM, the visual recognition capabilities of Tesla’s systems are constantly learning by what they see and absorb in terms of data.

“FSD Beta v12 upgrades the city-streets driving stack to a single end-to-end neural network trained on millions of video clips, replacing over 300k lines of explicit C++ code,” said Tesla in the release notes of the v12 update. This means that the vehicle’s behaviours will also be powered by AI at all times, like its vision system, rather than being coded by engineers.

Similar to Musk’s observations regarding AGI, Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) sees what it calls “Human by Design” technologies driving the productivity of the future. The term reflects an idea of AI being more human-like and intuitive for people to use. In early March, Accenture made a big splash in the sector by committing to invest $1 billion over three years to acquire developer Udacity to build on to and scale up its Accenture LearnVantage platform to help its clients with the comprehensive technology learning and training services to help reskill and update people working in technology, data, and AI and to reinvent organizations to achieve greater business value.

Accenture followed this up roughly a month later with the acquisition of Cognosante, a mission-driven provider of digital transformation and cloud modernization solutions for federal health, defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies, under its subsidiary Accenture Federal Services.

Another developer getting the attention of federal governments is Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR), which recently secured a $178.4-million contract with the US Army for its TITAN AI-enabled ground station, which are now being referred to as the Army’s “first AI-defined vehicle.” Palantir then quickly followed this deal up by being designated as an “Awardable” vendor for the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office’s (CDAO) Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace, with two of the company’s offerings being added to the Marketplace and being made available to support critical missions across the Department of Defense (DoD).

“Our inclusion in the Tradewinds Marketplace will enable Palantir to deliver innovative, AI-enabled mission command and logistics capabilities to service members at a pace that exceeds most traditional procurement pathways,” said Akash Jain, President of Palantir USG. “This unique Marketplace for commercial technology adoption would not be possible without the agile acquisition authorities made available by Congress, as well as the Department’s leadership in embracing modern procurement solutions to ensure the U.S. maintains its edge over global competitors.”

Working to improve digital workflow, developers at ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW) (NEO: NOWS) recently furthered its generative AI leadership with new capabilities in its Washington, D.C. platform release. New features have been added to ServiceNow’s Now Assist GenAI experiences, which offer responsible, intelligent automation embedded into the ServiceNow platform. Recently ServiceNow released its Q1 2024 financial results, reporting significant year-over-year growth in subscription revenues (25%) and total revenues (24%).

“As leaders seek significant productivity improvements, ServiceNow has first mover advantage with years of investment in AI technology and talent,” said Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow. “Our GenAI offerings are the fastest selling in the company’s history. We are humbled by the trust our customers are investing in our platform. As we engineer Now Assist AI into every business workflow across every enterprise, we are giving people the power to know more, care more, and do more.”

Article Source: https://usanewsgroup.com/2024/04/26/the-currency-of-tomorrow-why-investing-in-cutting-edge-ai-recognition-tech-could-mean-big-money/ 

DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this publication should be considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular financial situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. USA News Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. (“MIQ”). MIQ has been paid a fee for Scope AI Corp. advertising and digital media from the company directly. There may be 3rd parties who may have shares Scope AI Corp., and may liquidate their shares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of this conflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication as the basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ own shares of Scope AI Corp. which were purchased as a part of a private placement. MIQ reserves the right to buy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Scope AI Corp. at any time thereafter without any further notice. We also expect further compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibility for the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serve as notice that all material disseminated by MIQ has been approved by the above mentioned company; this is a paid advertisement, and we own shares of the mentioned company that we will sell, and we also reserve the right to buy shares of the company in the open market, or through further private placements and/or investment vehicles. While all information is believed to be reliable, it is not guaranteed by us to be accurate. Individuals should assume that all information contained in our newsletter is not trustworthy unless verified by their own independent research. Also, because events and circumstances frequently do not occur as expected, there will likely be differences between any predictions and actual results. Always consult a licensed investment professional before making any investment decision. Be extremely careful, investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may likely lose some or all of the investment.

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LOS ANGELES and MANILA, Philippines, April 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Talino Venture Studios, an award-winning global venture studio for sustainable innovation, and Chemonics International, a leading sustainable development firm, have launched and seed-funded Higala, the pioneer startup Inclusive Instant Payment System (IIPS) in the Philippines.

As an IIPS, Higala will serve as a financial superhighway that will connect thrift banks, rural banks, and microfinance institutions that are currently excluded from payment networks because of high switching and on-ramp costs.

Despite the presence of 400 rural banks in the Philippines, only a mere 18 are part of InstaPay. This highlights a significant challenge: the lack of interoperability among these banks. As a consequence, the full potential of financial inclusion remains largely untapped, depriving many Filipinos of the benefits that modern banking technologies can offer.

“Higala will help modernize our country’s digital financial infrastructures and enable the participation of financial institutions through our network. Our goal is to make banking more inclusive, especially to the underserved segments of the population that have limited access to traditional banking services,” Higala President and CEO Vice Catudio said.

Higala promotes inclusion by lowering the cost of real-time payments, which helps financial institutions to reasonably price their instant payments. It also aims to provide inclusive financial solutions to the underbanked as well as rapidly enable merchants to accept digital payments.

“Through Higala’s open payment platform and suite of solutions, we will enable new market players to aggressively develop and market innovative payment services to both consumers and merchants,” said Catudio.”This includes integrating solutions such as regulatory technologies like e-KYC and AML-TF monitoring, AI-based risk detection and management, banking microledgers, payment hub that will enable instant fund transfer across participating banks, and a global transaction gateway for remittance,” he adds.

Higala is also building a core instant payment technology that can accommodate financial institutions of all sizes and turn banks into digital banks through white label app services.

Sustainable development
“At Talino, we are committed to the sustainable execution of development that benefits all stakeholders, especially the unbanked,” said Talino CEO Winston Damarillo. “With Talino and Chemonics providing funding for Higala, we bring together the impact of venture investing and global good to expand the benefits of financial inclusion to segments that need them most.”

“We are excited to embark on a new journey with Higala, a testament to our commitment to innovation and financial inclusion in the Philippines and other dynamic markets across the globe. Drawing from three decades of impactful partnerships and success in the economic growth space in the Philippines, Higala embodies our vision for affordable, real-time transactions accessible to all Filipino communities,” said Chemonics President and CEO Jamey Butcher.

The first deployment of Mojaloop in Asia
Higala leverages the open payment platform of Mojaloop Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to boosting financial inclusion through its open-source software called Mojaloop. With Mojaloop’s open payment framework, Higala facilitates seamless connectivity among various financial entities, including banks, institutions, payment gateways, merchants, and the central bank. This approach enhances affordability and accessibility in financial transactions.

“With the pioneering deployment of Mojaloop open source software in Asia through our collaboration with Talino’s Higala, the Mojaloop Foundation reaffirms its commitment to breaking down barriers and empowering communities through financial inclusion. Together, we’re not just revolutionizing payment systems; we’re unlocking opportunities, fostering resilience, and building a future where financial access knows no bounds,” said Mojaloop Foundation Executive Director Paula Hunter.

“We want to ensure that everyone is fully banked by lowering the bar of obtaining bank accounts, lowering the friction cost for digital payments, encouraging merchants to accept them, and empowering all financial institutions to be able to provide it to their constituents, especially rural banks,” said Damarillo.

Backed by BSP and industry leaders
BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto E. Tangonan said, “The BSP supports continued efforts to enhance the efficiency of the national payment system and help modernize the Philippines’ digital payments infrastructure as part of our ongoing efforts to bring more users into the digital payments system.”

Tangonan adds, “Adopting modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and compliance with global standards like ISO 20022 can help payment service providers offer new services, improve customer experience, and make digital transactions more safe and secure.”

Aside from BSP, Higala’s partners and collaborators include the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Xendit, FinTech Alliance.Ph, and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines.

“We are committed to inclusivity, affordability, and the innovative approach to transaction management and settlements. Higala provides efficiency and equitability to fully support the nation’s move towards comprehensive financial inclusion,” Catudio said.

About Talino

Talino Venture Studios is an award-winning global venture studio for inclusive fintech. Born in the intersection of Silicon Valley and Southeast Asia, Talino Venture Studios is on a mission to bridge financial inclusion for over 1.7 billion people around the world. It uses the successful venture studio model to build repeatable, scalable, and profitable fintechs that empower underserved, underrepresented groups around the world with financial access and mobility. Talino Ventures Studios (talinolabs.com)

About Chemonics

Founded in 1975, Chemonics is one of the world’s leading global sustainable development consulting firms. With over 6,000 experts in more than 100 countries, 90% of its staff are working in a community they have long-considered home. Chemonics collaborates with communities across the globe to identify and apply innovative, sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. Where Chemonics works, development works. www.chemonics.com

About the Mojaloop Foundation

The Mojaloop Foundation’s mission is to increase financial inclusion by empowering organizations creating interoperable payment systems to enable digital financial services for all. To achieve its mission, Mojaloop Foundation operates as a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization, maintaining its free, open source software, Mojaloop, and community as public goods in the service of financial inclusion. Merchants, banks, providers, government offices and other entities looking to build inclusive payments platforms can use Mojaloop – whole, adapted or as a real-time payments reference model. For more information about the Mojaloop Foundation, visit https://mojaloop.io/.

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