Swiss luxury goods firm Lalique to delist, shares surge

ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss jewellery and crystal homeware maker Lalique said on Friday it planned to delist from Switzerland's SIX stock exchange, sending the company's share price up by nearly a third.

Majority shareholder Silvio Denz is making a tender offer to public shareholders of the firm, offering 40 Swiss francs ($44) in cash per Lalique share, the company said in a statement. Denz holds around 51.1% of shares and is chairman of the group.

This is a premium of nearly 28% based on the volume-weighted average price of the share on SIX over the 60 trading days prior to publication of the offer prospectus, or of 32.45% based on the share's closing price on May 30, Lalique said.

"As a private company, Lalique Group with its already very small free float will be able to focus fully on its business activities and continue to successfully pursue its proven diversification strategy," the company said.

Shares in Lalique opened up more than 31%, taking them just below the 40 franc offer.

The company has been listed on the SIX exchange since 2018, and its free float has remained small throughout, currently standing at just over 6%.

In view of that, the costs associated with the listing and the short-term orientation of stock markets, the company said it had decided to leave the exchange.

Anchor shareholders Müller Handels AG Schweiz, Dharampal Satyapal Limited, Hansjörg Wyss and Claudio Denz have each concluded separate non-tender agreements with Silvio Denz and will remain invested in Lalique after the delisting, it added.

The offer period is scheduled to begin on June 17 and end on June 28, with a provisional interim result due to be published on July 2. A potential extension period is envisaged for July 3 until July 16, the company said.

Lalique plans to have shareholders approve the delisting at its next annual general meeting on June 28.

Its board of directors is unanimously recommending that shareholders accept the offer.

($1 = 0.9048 Swiss francs)

(Writing by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Louis van Boxel-WoolfEditing by Rachel More, Christopher Cushing and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)