Investor sells up stake in Oriflame
private in 1999, Sweden-based cosmetic direct sales company
Oriflame has bid good-bye to one of its biggest investors after
Industri Kapital 1997 Fund sold the remaining shares it held in the
company.
The sale took place 15 August and saw the remaining 2,523,121 Swedish Depository Receipts in Oriflame sold to a limited number of Swedish and international institutions.
The shares were sold off at SEK242 (€26.32) for each depository receipts, giving the deal a total transaction value of SEK610.59m. The deal corresponded to 4.5 per cent of the total shares and votes in Oriflame.
Shares in the company were trading at SEK240.to at the end of business trading today.
"It has been exciting to work with Oriflame, its management and the other owners over this period, building a leading global direct sales cosmetics company. Oriflame has been a good investment for us and we believe the company has a solid platform for future development", said Kim Wahl, partner at Industri Kapital.
The sale of the Industri Kapital shares follows investment group Stichting af Jochnick's August 10 purchase of 416,000 shares in Oriflame, which corresponded to a 0.7 per cent of the votes and the capital in the company.
The move affirmed the group as the biggest individual investor in Oriflame, which now owns over 6 million shares corresponding to 10.8 per cent of the votes and capital in the company.
Industri Kapital was one of the primary investors that helped to take Oriflame private in 1999, when shares in the company stopped trading on the London Stock Exchange.
During its years as a privatised company, Oriflame was able to carry out significant changes in its operations, focusing on specific geographic expansion, particularly in developing markets in Central and Eastern Europe as well as China.
After a five year absence the company was then able to re-establish itself as a private company, listing itself on the Stockholm Exchange in March 2004, when shares started trading at SEK190.
For the quarter up to June 30 this year, the company reported a jump of 22 per cent for net profits of €22.3m, against Euro sales that jumped 28 per cent to reach €215.7m. Recent restructuring initiatives have also paid dividends, with operating profits rising by 59 per cent for the quarter to reach €31.3m.
