The hygiene and health company
Essity
has today completed the divestment of its entire holding of 51.59% of shares in the Asian hygiene company
Vinda International Holdings Limited
(Vinda) for
HKD 23.50
per share. The sales proceeds amounted to
HKD 14.6bn
(approximately
SEK 19bn
).
Essity
will retain a presence in
Asia
and in Vinda through continued licensing of
Essity's
brands.
On
December 15, 2023
,
Essity
communicated that
Isola Castle Ltd
, a company indirectly wholly owned by
Asia Pacific Resources International Limited
(APRIL), had announced that it intended to make a pre-conditional public offer to the shareholders of Vinda to acquire 100% of the company's issued shares for
HKD 23.50
per share.
Essity
signed an irrevocable undertaking to accept the offer in respect of all of its 51.59% shareholding. The offer was announced on
March 8, 2024
, and
Essity
has accepted it in line with its undertaking. The price in the public offer will correspond to an equity value for all shares of approximately
HKD 28.3bn
(
SEK 37bn
).
"
Essity
is now in better shape than ever. Following the divestment of Vinda the categories with the highest margins and lowest capital intensity account for a larger part of the company. The company's pulp consumption has halved, and we have a more attractive portfolio with higher profitability and lower volatility. The transaction reduced Consumer Tissue's share of net sales in 2023 from 41% to 33%. We look forward to continuing to grow a portfolio of more value-generating categories," says
Magnus Groth
, President and CEO for
Essity
.
Essity's
ownership of 51.59% in Vinda had been consolidated to 100% by
Essity
since 2014. As of the fourth quarter of 2023,
Essity
has classified Vinda's financial reporting as discontinued operations. Vinda is listed on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
and had a market capitalization of approximately
HKD 25bn
(
SEK 33bn
) at the end of trading on
December 14, 2023
. 83% of Vinda's net sales were related to tissue and 17% to personal care products.
Essity
has several legal opinions confirming that the divestment of the shares in Vinda does not constitute a 'cessation of business' under
Essity
's EMTN program. These opinions considered several qualitative and quantitative factors, such as the continued business with Vinda under licenses, etc. However, already the fact that
Essity
only owns 51.59% of the shares and sales account for 8.5% of
Essity's
total sales, means that the divestment of the shares does not qualify as 'cessation of business'.
For further information, please contact:
Per Lorentz, Vice President Corporate Communications, +46 73 313 30 55, per.lorentz@essity.com
Sandra Ã…berg, Vice President Investor Relations, +46 70 564 96 89, sandra.aberg@essity.com
Essity
is a global, leading hygiene and health company. Every day, our products, solutions and services are used by a billion people around the world. Our purpose is to break barriers to well-being for the benefit of consumers, patients, caregivers, customers and society. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands such as Actimove, Cutimed, JOBST, Knix, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Modibodi, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, TOM Organic and Zewa. In 2023,
Essity
had net sales of approximately
SEK 147bn
(
EUR 13bn
) and employed 36,000 people. The company's headquarters is located in
Stockholm, Sweden
and
Essity
is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. More information at essity.com.
https://news.cision.com/essity/r/essity-completes-divestment-of-its-shares-in-vinda,c3949233
https://mb.cision.com/Main/15798/3949233/2683927.pdf