Spanish beauty group Puig aims for €14bn IPO

Spanish beauty group Puig, which owns brands such as Paco Rabanne and Charlotte Tilbury, is set for the biggest initial public offering in Europe so far this year with a valuation target of up to €14bn.

The family-owned company said it was aiming to start share trading on May 3 and gave an expected range for its market capitalisation of €12.7bn-€13.9bn.

It is aiming to sell up to €3bn of shares, putting 21 to 24 per cent of its stock in the hands of outside investors. The founding Puig family will retain a majority stake.

The 110-year-old Barcelona-based business will list in Madrid and on other Spanish stock exchanges with bankers at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan leading the process.

Puig said it would use the proceeds “for general corporate purposes such as refinancing the acquisitions of additional ownership interest[s] in Byredo and Charlotte Tilbury and supporting the growth strategy of the company’s brands and portfolio”.

Both Byredo, a cult Swedish fragrance group, and Charlotte Tilbury, a British make-up brand associated with its eponymous founder, were acquired by Puig during a deal spree encompassing 11 companies in 12 years.

The acquisitions have been overseen by Marc Puig, chair, chief executive and grandson of the company’s founder, who opened the business in 1914 after a German submarine sunk a ship carrying the merchandise of his previous venture.

The base of the offer is about €2.6bn of shares but Puig is offering Goldman an “overallotment” option to purchase a further €390mn.

Bookbuilding begins on Thursday and will end on April 30. The final price of the shares will be determined after the bookbuilding process is complete, the company said.

Marc Puig has led the company since 2004 and said he would be the last generation of the family to head the business, though he has no current plans to step down.

Explaining the IPO rationale this month, he said: “We believe that the balance of being a family-owned company that is also subject to market accountability will allow us to better compete in the international beauty market during the next phase of the company’s development.”

In another big European IPO, shares in skincare group Galderma began trading in Switzerland last month.