redirects here . for the autoroute see a20 autoroute . l occitane en provence type s.a. traded as sehk stock code 00973 industry personal care founded 1976 headquarters 108 rue richelieu paris france key people olivier baussan products cosmetics and beauty products brands l occitane en provence melvita le couvent des minimes erborian l occitane au br sil revenue 1.178 billion 2015 1 operating income 164 million 2015 1 total assets 1.209 2015 1 number of employees 8371 2016 website www.loccitane.com l occitane en provence french pronunciation l k.si.tan p . v s and commonly known as l occitane is an international retailer of body face fragrances and home products based in manosque france . the company was founded in 1976 by olivier baussan with the purpose to create a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his native provence . the company name means the occitan woman in provence . 2 in 2010 the company became listed on the hong kong stock exchange . contents 1 history 1.1 listing 2 beauty products 3 melvita 4 the l occitane foundation 5 references history edit the storefront in shibuya tokyo japan in 1976 23 year old olivier baussan used steam distillation to produce essential oil from wild rosemary 3 and lavender which he sold at open air markets in his native provence . l occitane was named for the women of occitania . this area existed during the middle ages spanning southern france north eastern spain and northern italy . occitan was the native language and is still spoken as a second language in some areas of this region today . the first l occitane boutique opened in 1978 in volx a village in provence . 4 baussan found a disused soap factory in manosque another proven al village which he took over to manufacture vegetable based soaps using traditional methods . in the 1990s baussan sold a majority stake in the business to venture capitalists to finance expansion . as their approaches were incompatible baussan found himself excluded from daily management and strategic decision making . 5 in 1994 austrian businessman reinold geiger bought a 33 % stake in the group . 4 through a series of capital increases geiger became majority shareholder in 1996 . 4 geiger as the new chairman asked baussan to return as creative director and lead product development . the company s new focus on marketing strategy paved the way for international expansion . 5 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 . 6 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 in may 2007 following which reinold geiger s stake rose from 31.9 % to 48.7 % and clarins stake was diluted to 10.0 % . 4 l occitane has shops in over 90 countries 7 in north america south america europe asia australia and africa ; with 170 shops in the united states . 5 8 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 ; . 4 it planned over 650 store openings with the capital raised . 9 in 2013 the company employed 6 600 people worldwide and created a new brand l occitane au br sil focused on products from brazil . 7 10 listing edit in march 2010 the listing committee of the hong kong stock exchange approved its plan for a 400 600 million initial public offering 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 . 11 the company stated that two thirds of the proceeds would be used to finance store openings . 9 china investment corporation invested us 50 million in the company s ipo as the cornerstone investor for approximately 1.9 % of the shares . 12 following the listing of shares in l occitane international sa l occitane groupe sa detains 75 % of the shareholding of the company ; shares owned by geiger clarins and other shareholders are indirect . 4 beauty products edit lavender fields in provence all of l occitane s products are developed and produced from its base in manosque where 1 000 employees work . 7 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 parfum 13 and encouraging traditional cultivation particularly that of lavender . a tin of l occitane shea butter in addition to products sourced from provence shea butter is purchased directly from women s groups in burkina faso as fair trade with the ecocert certification . the shea tree is considered sacred and its butter is known as women s gold because it is how the women make their money . shea butter traditions are still used such as only fallen fruit may be collected by women and only women know the secret to making shea butter . 14 according to the company it does not conduct animal testing and no animal product or by product except for beehive products are used in the manufacturing process . l occitane develops most of its products and ingredients in line with the organic cosmetics specifications of ecocert . 15 melvita edit l occitane bought groupe m & a d veloppement and its subsidiary m & a sant beaut which includes the organic cosmetic brand melvita in 2008 . 16 the company which was founded in the ard che 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 ecocert certification . 4 they now have stores in thirteen countries . the l occitane foundation edit 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 with ngos that are specialised in training professionals to reduce blindness . the l occitane foundation has formed a partnership with orbis an organisation that fights against avoidable blindness in developing countries . 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 undp has decided to recognise l occitane en provence as an exemplary company within the framework of its 2013 growing inclusive markets initiative . 17 since 2013 l occitane foundation rewards every two years an ophthalmologist for his work in the fight against blindness . the professor volker klaus received in 2013 the first l occitane sight award with a 50 000 award for his action in africa . 18 references edit wikimedia commons has media related to l occitane en provence . a b c l occitane en provence fy2015 annual report pdf . l occitane en provence . 9 july 2015 . retrieved 12 june 2016 . l occitane customer service frequently asked questions usa site . usa.loccitane.com . retrieved 15 may 2014 . olivier baussan l occitane a b c d e f g history culture and corporate structure listing particulars l occitane int s.a. a b c lee maggie . business interview olivier baussan founder l occitane the independent 9 april 2006 the leading elle view site on the net . elleview.com . retrieved 15 may 2014 . a b c manosque reinold geiger l me de l occitane en provence . la provence . 27 april 2013 . retrieved 15 may 2014 . jennifer creevy scent of a winner . retail week 28 july 2006 . a b steger isabella 26 april 2010 . l occitane sets sights on hk 2.45 b in ipo south china morning post l occitane goes brazilian beyondbrics blogs ft.com . blogs.ft.com . 6 march 2013 . retrieved 15 may 2014 . france s l occitane receives hkex nod for ipo source reuters 29 march 2010 cornerstone investor listing particulars l occitane international s.a. onippam office national interprofessionnel des plantes parfum aromatiques et m dicinales . anthea de lima 15 january 2004 p. 07 new straits times kuala lumpur . contr le de produits certification . ecocert . retrieved 15 may 2014 . melvita fait peau neuve . la tribune in french . 29 december 2008 . retrieved 31 august 2009 . montague jones guy 12 june 2008 . l occitane buys natural neighbour m & a sante beaute . cosmetics design europe . retrieved 31 august 2009 . united nations development programme growinginclusivemarkets.org pdf http www.iapb.org news loccitane sight award retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title l % 27occitane en provence & oldid 739269133 categories retail companies of francefrench brandscosmetics companies of francecompanies listed on the hong kong stock exchangewarrants issued in hong kong stock exchangehidden categories cs1 french language sources fr engvarb from july 2014use dmy dates from july 2014commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged 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