Puig will debut on May 3 and values the company's market capitalization at between 12,700 and 13,900 million euros, according to the information brochure published yesterday for its listing on the Barcelona stock exchanges, Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia. These figures make it the biggest IPO this year in Europe. It is also the most important in Spain in recent years, since Aena's stock market debut in 2015.
Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, will go to the offer to take a significant stake in the company, as sources close to the operation confirmed yesterday. Criteria declined to comment on the matter.
The non-binding price range at which Puig shares are offered in the offer is between 22 and 24.50 euros per share. The prospectus presented to the CNMV also confirms that the size of the offer is up to 3,000 million, which could mean the placement on the stock market of around 21% of the capital. The Puig family will retain the majority of shares in the perfumery, fashion and cosmetics group, as confirmed in the prospectus itself. The final price of the offer will be set on April 30.
The group has in its portfolio brands such as Carolina Herrera, Rabanne, Charlotte Tilbury or Jean Paul Gaultier and has been controlled since its foundation in 1914 by the Puig family, which "will retain a majority stake and the vast majority of voting rights", has explained the company. Puig operates in 32 countries and in the last fiscal year it invoiced 4,304 million euros and obtained a profit of 465 million, with double-digit growth in both cases.
"We believe that the balance of being a family company that is at the same time subject to the responsibility of the market will allow us to better compete in the international beauty market during the next phase of development", argued its president, Marc Puig, in an interview recently with La Vanguardia. The prospectus captures this idea in which it notes that being on the stock market entails "a greater level of scrutiny by investors, analysts, regulators and the market in general, which ensures that the next generations of the Puig family are held to the standards as high as possible while steering the company in the right strategic direction."
The brochure also emphasizes that the operation "will allow the firm to better compete in the international beauty market during the next phase of development. As a result of the offering, the company's corporate and capital structures will be more closely aligned with those of the best family-owned companies in the global premium beauty sector, which in most cases have a strong core of linked shareholders. to their founding families, which encourages a long-term thinking approach”.
The Catalan multinational considers that the stock market listing will involve "greater visibility and knowledge", which should provide the company with "useful tools" for the attraction and retention of talent while opening up access to capital like no other source of funding to support the growth strategy of the company's brands and portfolio.
With the funds raised, the intention is to "continue growing" with a focus on premium beauty, increasing market share in Europe or America and acquiring new brands. They will also serve to finance "any future strategic investment" and capital expenditure, the company has specified. Also the refinancing of the acquisitions of additional holdings in Byredo and Charlotte Tilbury. Puig's net financial debt amounts to 1,196 million euros after the latest operations.
