PARIS – Puig said Monday it intends to float on the Spanish Stock Exchanges, ending months of swirling rumors about whether the company would go public.
The family-owned Spanish beauty and fashion company said it intends to apply for admission of class B shares to the Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia Stock Exchanges and trading through the Automated Quotation System.
Buoyant equity markets and promise of mitigating interest rates are helping drive interest in IPOs around the globe. In the beauty space, Galderma and Douglas floated in Europe last month.
Puig’s offering will have a primary tranche of new shares targeting an equity raise of about 1.25 billion euros.
A larger, secondary offering of shares is then to be made by Puig SL, the group’s controlling shareholder that’s controlled by Exea, the Puig family’s holding. Following the offering, the Puig family will retain a majority stake and the vast majority of voting rights in the company Puig.
Paco Rabanne Resort 2024 Preview
Kuba Dabrowski/WWD
The Puig family has been the sole owner of the company Puig since its start in 1914.
“Today’s announcement is a decisive step in Puig’s 110-year history,” said Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer of Puig, in a statement. “Thanks to our strategy of building up a portfolio of owned brands, focusing on prestige products, and expanding our leadership in niche fragrances, makeup and dermocosmetics, Puig has consistently delivered strong profitable growth.
“Our unique and creative DNA has allowed us to attract leading founders and brands, establishing longterm partnerships and helping them grow while preserving their legacy,” he continued. “We strongly believe that building premium brands requires longterm thinking and having a family behind a company fosters this longterm approach, because they tend to care in equal measure about the time horizon of the next generation and the next quarter.
“At the same time, it is important for any family business to have the right checks and balances in place, particularly during generational transitions,” said Puig.
“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. Additionally, we believe that becoming a publicly listed company will align our corporate structure with those of best-in-class, family-owned companies in the premium beauty sector globally, help us to attract and retain talent, and support the growth strategy of our brands and portfolio,” he added.
Barcelona-based Puig operates across 32 countries with 17 brands. The largest of those sales-wise are Rabanne, Charlotte Tilbury and Carolina Herrera.
Over the past few years, Puig redefined its strategy, focusing on a few core pillars. One focus has been on prestige, with Puig consolidating its businesses in the higher-margin, premium beauty arena. The group has also prioritized its own brands. Ninety-five percent of company net revenues last year, which reached 4.304 billion euros, came from its fully- or majority-owned brands.
Puig has also built a portfolio of niche fragrance brands, which are part of the fastest- growing category in the hot perfume market today. Those include Penhaligon’s, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Dries Van Noten and Byredo.
In beauty, Puig has broadened its focus from perfume into makeup and skin care. In the color cosmetics category, Puig acquired Charlotte Tilbury and launched makeup for Christian Louboutin and Rabanne. In the skin care segment, Puig acquired Dr. Barbara Sturm, which will be added to the portfolio including Uriage, Apiita, Kama Ayurveda and Loto del Sur.
Puig’s net sales rose 19 percent in 2023 versus 2022. The company’s net profit increased 16 percent on-year to 465 million euros in the period.
