Coty Inc. (the “Company” or “Coty”) (NYSE: COTY) notes the receipt of
all required regulatory approvals by Cottage Holdco B.V. (“Offeror”), an
affiliate of JAB Holding Company S.à r.l. (“JAB”), in connection with
Offeror’s tender offer (the “Offer”) to purchase up to 150,000,000
shares of the Company’s Class A common stock (the “Shares”) at a price
of $11.65 per share in cash.
As previously disclosed, Offeror informed the Company that merger
control or competition law filings outside of the U.S. are required of
Offeror or its affiliates in various jurisdictions, including Brazil,
Canada, China, the European Union, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Turkey
and Ukraine before the purchase of Shares in the Offer may be completed.
Offeror has informed the Company that, as of April 26, 2019, all
required regulatory approvals, clearances or applicable waiting periods
have been received or expired in all relevant jurisdictions. As a
result, Offeror has informed the Company that at this time it does not
intend to extend the Offer beyond the previously announced expiration
date of 5:00 P.M., New York City Time, on April 26, 2019 (the
“Expiration Date”) and intends to proceed with the consummation of the
Offer promptly following the Expiration Date.
Important Additional Information
This communication does not
constitute an offer to buy or solicitation of an offer to sell any
securities. The Company has filed an amendment and restatement of its
Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC.
BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS
ARE URGED TO READ THE AMENDED SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT ON
SCHEDULE 14D-9 AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED
WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. These materials are available free of charge by
contacting the Company’s information agent, Okapi Partners LLC,
toll-free at (877) 629-6356 or by contacting the Company’s Investor
Relations Department at 350 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10118 or
calling 212-389-7300. In addition, all of these materials (and all other
tender offer documents filed with the SEC) are available free of charge
from the SEC through its website at www.sec.gov.
About Coty Inc.
Coty is one of the world’s largest beauty
companies with over $9 billion in revenue, an iconic portfolio of brands
and a purpose to celebrate and liberate the diversity of consumers’
beauty. We believe the beauty of humanity lies in the individuality of
its people; beauty is at its best when authentic; and beauty should make
you feel happy, never sad. As the global leader in fragrance, a strong
number two in professional salon hair color & styling, and number three
in color cosmetics, Coty operates three divisions: Consumer Beauty,
which is focused on mass color cosmetics, mass retail hair coloring and
styling products, body care and mass fragrances with brands such as
COVERGIRL, Max Factor, Sally Hansen and Rimmel; Luxury, which is focused
on prestige fragrances and skincare with brands such as Calvin Klein,
Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Hugo Boss, Gucci and philosophy; and Professional
Beauty, which is focused on servicing salon owners and professionals in
both hair and nail, with brands such as Wella Professionals, Sebastian
Professional, OPI and ghd. Coty has approximately 20,000 colleagues
globally and its products are sold in over 150 countries. Coty and its
brands are committed to a range of social causes as well as seeking to
minimize its impact on the environment.
For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in
this press release, including statements relating to the Offer and the
consummation of the Offer, are forward-looking statements. These forward
looking statements are generally identified by words or phrases, such as
“anticipate”, “estimate”, “plan”, “project”, “expect”, “believe”,
“intend”, “foresee”, “forecast”, “will”, “may”, “should,” “outlook,”
“continue,” “intend,” “aim” and similar words or phrases. Reported
results should not be considered an indication of future performance,
and actual results may differ materially from the results predicted due
to risks and uncertainties including:
-
the Company’s ability to develop and achieve its global business
strategies and strategic plan and the Company’s ability to compete
effectively in the beauty industry and achieve the benefits
contemplated by its strategic initiatives within the expected time
frame or at all;
-
the Company’s ability to anticipate, gauge and respond to market
trends and consumer preferences, which may change rapidly, and the
market acceptance of new products, including any launches or
relaunches and their associated costs and discounting, and consumer
receptiveness to the Company’s marketing and consumer engagement
activities (including digital marketing and media);
-
the Company’s use of estimates and assumptions in preparing its
financial statements and projections and estimates, including with
regard to revenue recognition, income taxes, the assessment of
goodwill, other intangible assets and long-lived assets for
impairment, the market value of inventory, pension expense and the
fair value of acquired assets and liabilities associated with
acquisitions and the fair value of redeemable noncontrolling interests;
-
the impact of any future impairments;
-
managerial, integration, operational, regulatory, legal and financial
risks, including diversion of management attention to and management
of cash flows, expenses and costs associated with multiple ongoing and
future strategic initiatives and internal reorganizations
-
the continued integration of the P&G Beauty Business and other recent
acquisitions with the Company’s business, operations, systems,
financial data and culture and the ability to realize synergies, avoid
future supply chain and other business disruptions, reduce costs
(including through the Company’s cash efficiency initiatives) and
realize other potential efficiencies and benefits (including through
the Company’s restructuring initiatives) at the levels and at the
costs and within the time frames contemplated or at all;
-
increased competition, consolidation among retailers, shifts in
consumers’ preferred distribution and marketing channels (including to
digital and luxury channels), distribution and shelf-space resets or
reductions, compression of go-to-market cycles, changes in product and
marketing requirements by retailers, reductions in retailer inventory
levels and order lead-times or changes in purchasing patterns, and
other changes in the retail, e-commerce and wholesale environment in
which the Company does business and sell its products and the
Company’s ability to respond to such changes;
-
the Company’s and its business partners’ and licensors’ abilities to
obtain, maintain and protect the intellectual property used in the
Company’s and their respective businesses, protect the Company’s and
such business partners’ respective reputations, public goodwill, and
defend claims by third parties for infringement of intellectual
property rights;
-
any change to the Company’s capital allocation and/or cash management
priorities;
-
any unanticipated problems, liabilities or other challenges associated
with an acquired business which could result in increased risk or new,
unanticipated or unknown liabilities, including with respect to
environmental, competition and other regulatory, compliance or legal
matters;
-
the Company’s international operations and joint ventures, including
enforceability and effectiveness of the Company’s joint venture
agreements and reputational, compliance, regulatory, economic and
foreign political risks, including difficulties and costs associated
with maintaining compliance with a broad variety of complex local and
international regulations;
-
the Company’s dependence on certain licenses and its ability to renew
expiring licenses or secure any needed change-in-control consents on
favorable terms or at all;
-
the Company’s dependence on entities performing outsourced functions,
including outsourcing of distribution functions, third-party
manufacturers, logistics and supply chain suppliers, and other
suppliers, including third-party software providers;
-
administrative, product development and other difficulties in meeting
the expected timing of market expansions, product launches and
marketing efforts;
-
global political and/or economic uncertainties, disruptions or major
regulatory or policy changes, and/or the enforcement thereof that
affect the Company’s business, financial performance, operations or
products, including the impact of Brexit, the current U.S.
administration, the results of elections in European countries and in
Brazil, changes in the U.S. tax code and recent changes and future
changes in tariffs, retaliatory or trade protection measures, trade
policies and other international trade regulations in the U.S. and in
other regions where the Company operates including the European Union
and China;
-
currency exchange rate volatility and currency devaluation;
-
the number, type, outcomes (by judgment, order or settlement) and
costs of current or future legal, compliance, tax, regulatory or
administrative proceedings, investigations and/or litigation;
-
the Company’s ability to manage seasonal factors and other variability
and to anticipate future business trends and needs;
-
disruptions in operations and sales, including due to disruptions in
supply chain, logistics, restructurings and other business alignment
activities, manufacturing or information technology systems, labor
disputes, extreme weather and natural disasters, and the impact of
such disruptions on the Company’s ability to generate profits,
stabilize or grow revenues or cash flows, comply with its contractual
obligations and accurately forecast demand and supply needs and/or
future results, and on the Company’s relationships with licensors and
retailers and the Company’s in-store execution and product launches
and promotions;
-
restrictions imposed on the Company through its license agreements,
credit facilities and senior unsecured bonds or other material
contracts, the Company’s ability to generate cash flow to repay,
refinance or recapitalize debt and otherwise comply with its debt
instruments, and changes in the manner in which the Company finances
its debt and future capital needs, including access to capital under
current market conditions;
-
increasing dependency on information technology and the Company’s
ability to protect against service interruptions, data corruption,
cyber-based attacks or network security breaches, costs and timing of
implementation and effectiveness of any upgrades or other changes to
information technology systems, including the Company’s digital
transformation initiatives, and the cost of compliance or the
Company’s failure to comply with any privacy or data security laws
(including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (the
“GDPR”)) or to protect against theft of customer, employee and
corporate sensitive information;
-
the Company’s ability to attract and retain key personnel and the
impact of the recent senior management transitions;
-
the distribution and sale by third parties of counterfeit and/or gray
market versions of the Company’s products;
-
the results of the Company’s ongoing strategic review and the creation
and revision of its strategic plan;
-
the anticipated timing of the consummation of the Offer;
-
business disruptions, litigation, costs and future events related to
the Offer; and
-
the impact of the Offer on the Company’s relationships with key
customers and suppliers and certain material contracts.
More information about potential risks and uncertainties that could
affect the Company’s business and financial results is included under
the heading “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, subsequent
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and periodic reports the Company has
filed and may file with the SEC from time to time.
All forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified
by these cautionary statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on
these forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date of
this Statement, and the Company does not undertake any obligation, other
than as may be required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking
or cautionary statements to reflect changes in assumptions, the
occurrence of events, unanticipated or otherwise, or changes in future
operating results over time or otherwise.
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