Asia's richest man, Li Ka-Shing, has made an offer to buy troubled French perfume retailer Marionnaud, French newspaper Les Echos said on Wednesday, citing several sources. Li Ka-Shing, the chairman of ports-to-telecoms conglomerate Hutchinson Whampoa, could pay 21.80 euros ($28.63) a share, a premium of around 25 percent to Marionnaud's last trading price of 17.48 euros on Monday, Les Echos said. He has made an offer to Marionnaud Chairman Marcel Frydman, it said.
Marionnaud declined to comment, but a spokesman said company founder Frydman "has always said he sought an industrial and financial partner to continue to develop his company".
Frydman "never was opposed to a public offer under the condition that it was friendly and that he could continue to work within the company," the Marionnaud spokesman said. As of October 31 the Frydman family owned 21.35 percent of Marionnaud and 35 percent of the voting rights.
A spokeswoman for Hutchison's A.S. Watson retail operation also declined to comment. Hutchinson Whampoa distributes beauty products in Europe and Asia, Les Echos said.
Marionnaud in December revealed millions of euros in accounting errors after postponing publication of its first-half results three times.
The company's shares were suspended at the company's request on Tuesday pending a statement on an unspecified financial deal. The Marionnaud spokesman said there was a strong probability the shares would remain suspended on Wednesday and in coming days.
The Marionnaud statement would say if the indicated financial operation concerned a financial restructuring or an offer for the company - both "credible" scenarios, a source close to the matter said.
Marionnaud's main banks, Credit Agricole, Credit Lyonnais, part of Credit Agricole, and Natexis were working on a restructuring of the company's debt, the source said. The banks already had a commitment for a new chief executive to replace Frydman's son Gerald, the source said.