Clarins family offers to buy out group

The Courtin-Clarins family, which owns a majority share in Clarins, the French cosmetics group, has offered to buy out the company and take it private.

Financiere FC, a family-controlled investment vehicle, has offered €55.5 a share – a 28 per cent premium to the last traded price before the shares were suspended on Thursday.

Clarins' shares have fallen a third over the past 12 months on fears of weak consumer spending and concerns that it lacks the critical mass needed for expansion.

The offer values the company, founded in 1954 by Jacques Courtin-Clarins, a medical student, at €2.3bn ($3.6bn). His plant-based skin treatments turned Clarins into an international group with a leading share of the European skincare market.

The Courtin-Clarins family, which owns nearly 65 per cent of the capital and has 78.5 per cent of the voting rights, has denied plans to sell up in the face of persistent takeover rumours.

© The Financial Times Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation