(BFM Bourse) – The Spanish fashion and cosmetics group Puig is aiming for an IPO on the Spanish markets. The company hopes to raise at least 2.5 billion euros in order to prevail against the giants of the sector.
A new European player in beauty and cosmetics is preparing its IPO, after the American giant Coty last September and Douglas, the German parent company of Nocibé last month. This is Puig – pronounced “Poudge” in Catalan – who declared this Monday his “intention to request admission” to the Madrid Stock Exchange, as well as to regional stock exchanges including that of Barcelona, the city where Puig is from .
The Catalan company intends to raise at least 2.5 billion euros as part of an IPO marking an “important step” in its history which began in 1914. The group has developed as a manufacturer of licensed perfumes for other brands such as Paco Rabanne and Carolina Herrera, recalls the Financial Times.
This would be the largest listing in Spain after that of the operator AENA in February 2015, specifies Reuters.
Analysts value Puig between 8 and 10 billion euros, also specifies the Financial Times.
This IPO will allow Puig “to be more competitive in the international beauty market during the next phase of the company’s development.” Also, this operation will impose on Puig “discipline and rigor”, declared Marc Puig, the grandson of the founder of the company in an interview with the Financial Times in October 2023.
In this same interview, Marc Puig also clarified that this operation would not lead to an abandonment of family control over the company. This was confirmed this Monday by the company in its press release since “at the end of the offer, the Puig family will retain a majority stake and the vast majority of the voting rights of the company”.
Tickle the big names in the sector
This family business, little known to the general French public, nevertheless holds a diversified portfolio of 17 fashion and perfume brands, the most emblematic of which are Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci and Charlotte Tilburry.
Under the leadership of Marc Puig, the company has vigorously carried out a series of acquisitions with the purchase of 11 brands in twelve years, the last of which being a majority stake in Dr Barbara Sturm, a German “molecular cosmetics” brand. high-end, in January 2024.
This latest initiative has allowed Puig to strengthen its position in the premium skincare segment with a portfolio that also includes Uriage, Apivita and wellness brands like Kama Ayurveda and Loto del Sur. And to claim 14 directly owned brands.
Puig indicates in its press release that these brands represent 95% of the group’s sales, which reached 4.3 billion euros in 2023, an increase of 19% compared to 2022.
“This selective acquisition strategy allowed Puig to develop these brands, avoiding the risk of license renewal and promoting long-term collaboration with the founders of these brands,” Puig says.
This acquisition binge, however, came at the cost of heavy debt, since the group has a net debt of 1.2 billion euros at the end of December 2023. However, this strategy is the right one for “the small thumb” of beauty and cosmetics, which must compete with the giants Estée Lauder or L’Oréal.
“Our biggest challenge is how to continue to attract, retain and motivate talent and [maintenir] creativity and imagination in our business when we are competing with large companies that are all number one in the world in a field, while in our case people barely know how to pronounce the name,” Marc Puig also said. at the Financial Times.
Sabrina Sadgui – ©2024 BFM Bourse