UPDATE 1-Blackstone nears take-private deal for L'Occitane, Bloomberg News reports

(Updates with details in paragraphs 3 & 5, adds source comment in paragraph 4 and background in paragraphs 6-7)

April 9 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc is nearing a take-private deal for Hong Kong-listed skincare company L'Occitane International SA, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The $5.55-billion French cosmetics company earlier in the day halted trading in its Hong Kong shares ahead of an announcement that may potentially spell out details on any takeover plans.

The U.S. private equity giant may join hands with L'Occitane billionaire owner Reinold Geiger, according to the report.

Blackstone has been exploring a deal with L'Occitane, but the structure of the deal is not immediately clear, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, but requested anonymity as the information was private.

Blackstone declined to comment, while L'Occitane could not be immediately reached.

Bloomberg had in February reported that Blackstone was considering a bid for L'Occitane, which sent the French firm's shares surging to their highest levels in two years.

Austrian billionaire Geiger, the controlling shareholder of L'Occitane, had decided against a deal to take the company private last September, triggering a drag in the shares.

(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)