Chinese giant to buy Kiwi skincare company in $250m deal

Angela Buglass, chief executive of Trilogy International. Photo / Supplied

China's biggest conglomerate, CITIC, said it planned to buy all the shares in NZX-listed skincare company Trilogy, at $2.90 a share, valuing the company at $250 million.

CITIC Capital China Partners, a buyout fund managed by the private equity arm of CITIC Capital Holdings, said it had entered into a scheme implementation agreement with Trilogy.

The offer price represents a 27.8 per cent premium to Trilogy's last closing share price and a 28.1 per cent premium to the three-month volume weighted average share price.

Trilogy's directors intend to unanimously recommend to all shareholders that they vote in favour of the scheme, including its largest shareholder, The Business Bakery, which holds 31.2 per cent, CITIC said.

Hanxi Zhao, senior managing director of CITIC Capital, said CITIC Capital wanted to boost Trilogy's global growth.

"Trilogy owns very strong brands in its respective beauty and lifestyle sectors, including Trilogy, Goodness, Lanocreme and ECOYA," she said.

"Its flagship brand, Trilogy, is a leading premium brand in the natural skincare space and has been highly recognised by skincare experts, celebrities and consumers all over the world," Zhao said.

Angela Buglass, Trilogy's chief executive said:

"CITIC Capital will bring added capability necessary to build our brands on a truly global scale, better serve our customers and consumers, and provide new career opportunities for our people," said in a statement.

"To have inbound private investment from a private equity firm to take us to the next level is super exciting. We've told the team today, and effectively from a day-to-day operations point of view there is no change apart from our investors going from one large group of shareholders to one major shareholder."

Trilogy's chairman Grant Baker said:

"The board strongly encourages shareholders to exercise their right to vote either in person or by proxy, and to seek independent advice as necessary."

"As the owners of TIL, by voting, shareholders can have their say in determining the future of their investment in TIL. The vote of every single shareholder counts in order to reach the required thresholds," Baker said in a note posted to the NZX.

A shareholder meeting over the deal will be held in March.

Trilogy shares have been on a rollercoaster ride over the last two years, topping out at $4.92 in August last year. The stock jumped 21 per cent to $2.75 in trading this afternoon.