Chinese buyer wants beauty brands
Beauty company Trilogy International has announced its pending sale to Chinese private equity firm Citic Capital China Partners for $250 million.
Trilogy chief executive Angela Buglass said the company made the final decision to sell to the firm at 11.30pm on Thursday night.
Yesterday morning the owner of skincare and fragrance brands Trilogy Natural Products, Ecoya, Goodness Natural Beauty Lab, By Nature and Lanocreme, asked its shareholders to approve the sale.
Trilogy shares would be bought by Citic Capital for $2.90 each if the sale was approved – almost a 28 per cent premium on its closing share price on Thursday.
Citic Capital asked to buy Trilogy earlier this year after noticing its growth in Asia, the United States and Britain, Buglass said.
The proposed sale would bring opportunities to some of Trilogy’s 180 staff and could not have come at a better time, she said.
The company just signed a deal to sell its Trilogy products at US retail giant Ulta Beauty and Britain’s Marks & Spencer. Buglass said it was also researching the Middle Eastern market.
Citic Capital would appoint a new board for Buglass to report to, but Trilogy’s executive team would not change and its products would remain New Zealand-made for the foreseeable future.
Trilogy products are made in south Auckland, its Lanocorp products in Christchurch and its Ecoya candles in Sydney.
The companies have entered into a scheme implementation agreement, where the sale is pending Overseas Investment Office, High Court and shareholder approval. A special meeting of shareholders is set for March.