L'Occitane en Provence, "the
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
woman (in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
)," commonly known as L'Occitane, is a French luxury retailer of body, face, hair, fragrances, and home products based in
Manosque
Manosque (; Provençal Occitan: ''Manòsca'' in classical norm or ''Manosco'' in Mistralian norm) is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. However, it is not the ''préfecture'' (capital ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. Founded in 1976 by
Olivier Baussan
Olivier Baussan (born December 9, 1952) is a French businessman and the founder of L'Occitane en Provence, Oliviers & Co and Première Pression Provence.
Biography
Baussan completed his degree in literature at the Université d'Aix-Marseille, univ ...
, with the purpose to create a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his native Provence. In 2010, the company became
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
History
In 1976, 23-year-old
Olivier Baussan
Olivier Baussan (born December 9, 1952) is a French businessman and the founder of L'Occitane en Provence, Oliviers & Co and Première Pression Provence.
Biography
Baussan completed his degree in literature at the Université d'Aix-Marseille, univ ...
used
steam distillation to produce
essential oil from wild
rosemary
''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name ''Rosmar ...
and lavender which he sold at open-air markets in his native Provence. ''L'Occitane'' was named for the women of
Occitania
Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasse ...
. This area existed during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, spanning southern France, north-eastern Spain and northern Italy.
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
was the native language and is still spoken as a second language in some areas of this region.
In 1976, using an old soap factory that was donated to him, Olivier Baussan revived the traditional art of Marseille soap-making in
Manosque
Manosque (; Provençal Occitan: ''Manòsca'' in classical norm or ''Manosco'' in Mistralian norm) is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. However, it is not the ''préfecture'' (capital ...
, another Provençal village. He manufactured vegetable-based soaps. The first L'Occitane factory and boutique opened in 1981 in
Volx
Volx (; oc, Vòus) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
Population
See also
* Coteaux de Pierrevert AOC
* Luberon
The Luberon ( or ; Provençal: ''Lebe ...
, a village in Provence.
[
In the 1990s, Baussan sold a majority stake in the business to ]venture capitalist
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
s to finance expansion. As their approaches were incompatible, Baussan found himself excluded from daily management and strategic decision-making.
In 1994, Austrian businessman Reinold Geiger bought a 33% stake in the group.[ Through a series of capital increases, Geiger became majority shareholder in 1996.] Geiger, as the new chairman, asked Baussan to return as creative director
A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
and lead product development. The company's new focus on marketing strategy paved the way for international expansion.[ In the late 1990s the company changed its name to 'L'Occitane en Provence', to strengthen the connection with the company's roots and because the term 'Provence' had more meaning to an international audience. On 20 April 2001, Clarins became a financial investor in the company through subscription to approximately 5.18% of the company's shares and €11,433,750 convertible debenture loan. On 22 February 2005, Clarins further invested €16,525,580 in convertible debentures. When the debentures were converted, Clarins held 23.33% of the shares. The management executed a ]leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...
in May 2007 following which Reinold Geiger's stake rose from 31.9% to 48.7%, and Clarins' stake was diluted to 10.0%.[
L'Occitane has shops in over 90 countries,] in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa; with 170 shops in the United States.[Lee, Maggie]
Business "Interview: Olivier Baussan, founder, L'Occitane"
''The Independent'' (9 April 2006) At the launch of its IPO in 2010, the company announced that its products were sold in over 80 countries through over 1,500 retail locations; it had 753 L'Occitane Stores. In the year ended 31 March 2009, it generated sales of €537.3 million.[ It planned over 650 store openings with the capital raised.][Steger, Isabella (26 April 2010). L'Occitane sets sights on HK$2.45b in IPO, '' South China Morning Post'']
In 2013, the company employed 6,600 people worldwide and created a new brand ''L'Occitane au Brésil'', focused on products from Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
In 2021, the company's US unit filed for Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
bankruptcy proceedings in New Jersey.
In 2021 L’Occitane Group acquired the US beauty brand Sol de Janeiro, valued in US$450 million.
In March 2022, L’Occitane acquired a majority stake in the Australian skincare brand, Grown Alchemist.
Following 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
, L'Occitane announced it would continue to keep its Russian stores open on the grounds that it wanted to protect its staff from potential retaliation. Several days later L'Occitane reversed their decision announcing that it would be closing its Russian shops and website. Nevertheless, Russian stores are still supplied with products, only as a separate legal entity
In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...
with a new name (Л'Окситан).
Listing
In March 2010, the listing committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange approved its plan for a $400–$600 million initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
of L'Occitane International S.A., underwritten by CLSA, HSBC and UBS which the company had originally planned in 2008, but postponed because of the 2008 financial crisis. The company stated that two-thirds of the proceeds would be used to finance store openings. China Investment Corporation invested US$50 million in the company's IPO as the cornerstone investor (for approximately 1.9% of the shares).["Cornerstone Investor"]
''Listing Particulars: L'OCCITANE INTERNATIONAL S.A.'' Following the listing of shares in L'Occitane International SA, L'Occitane Groupe SA retains 75% of the shareholding of the company; shares owned by Geiger, Clarins and other shareholders are indirect.[
]
Beauty products
All of L'Occitane's products are developed and produced from its base in Manosque, where 1,000 employees work. The company sources the majority of its production from Provence and one of their main product l'Immortelle plants ( Helichrysum italicum) from Corsica from producers who rely on traditional production methods.
L'Occitane contributes to preserve traditional cultivation methods by:
*Supporting the program to cultivate almond trees in the Alps of Haute-Provence.
*Preserving certain rare species through the planting of their own field of Immortelle flowers in Corsica.
*Developing partnerships with organisations that support the development of scented and aromatic plants, such as the Office National Interprofessionel des Plantes à Parfum, and
*Encouraging traditional cultivation, particularly that of lavender
''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...
.
In addition to products sourced from Provence, shea butter is purchased directly from women's groups in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...
as Fair Trade with the ECOCERT certification. The shea tree
''Vitellaria paradoxa'' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Vitellaria'',[animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...]
, and no animal product or by-product, except for beehive
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...
products are used in the manufacturing process. L'Occitane develops most of its products and ingredients in line with the organic cosmetics specifications of the ECOCERT.
Melvita
L'Occitane bought Groupe M&A Development and its subsidiary, M&A Santé Beauté, which includes the organic cosmetic brand Melvita, in 2008. The company, which was founded in the Ardèche in 1983 by French biologist Bernard Chevilliat, commercialises ecological and organic cosmetics principally in France. In 1990, Melvita launched its first organic cosmetics range and its manufacturing obtained the ECOCERT certification.[ They now have stores in thirteen countries.
]
The L'Occitane Foundation
''La Fondation d'Entreprise L'Occitane'' is a private organisation founded in 2006 by the company, with a budget of 4 million euros for 6 years, to support visually impaired people and help the economic emancipation of women. It supports associations for the visually impaired particularly in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...
with NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s that are specialised in training professionals to reduce blindness
Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment ...
. The L'Occitane Foundation has formed a partnership with Orbis, an organisation that fights against avoidable blindness in developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
. To support economic emancipation of women, the L'Occitane Foundation partnered with the association Faa-I-tuora to improve the way of living of people in Dissin, in the South West region of Burkina Faso.
In 2013, the United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
(UNDP) decided to recognise L'Occitane en Provence as an exemplary company within the framework of its 2013 "Growing Inclusive Markets" initiative. Since 2013, L'Occitane Foundation has rewarded an ophthalmologist every two years for his work in the fight against blindness. In 2013 Professor Volker Klaus received the first l'Occitane Sight Award with a €50,000 grant for his action in Africa.
References
External links
L'occitane Official website
{{cosmetics
Retail companies of France
French brands
Chemical companies established in 1976
Retail companies established in 1981
Cosmetics companies of France
Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Companies based in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021