At the centre of attention in the first quarter of 2024 is the beauty sector. In particular, the European beauty world. It’s common practice to launch new products on the market, less so for the companies themselves which often remain private. However, now seems to be high time for European beauty players to be launched on the market and become publicly traded for investors. In recent weeks, two major players in beauty went for their maiden Initial Public Offering (IPO) and listed on the European stock exchanges.
Galderma, Swiss-based dermatology company, listed on the SIX Swiss stock exchange at the end of March with a valuation of CHF 2.3 billion. Around the same time, German perfume retailer Douglas listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with a total valuation of EUR 900 million. Next up is Puig, beauty group based in Spain, which aims to raise as much as EUR 2.5 billion in the near-term. The premium beauty, family-owned company plans to reach its target through one primary offering followed by a larger secondary share sale, on the Madrid stock exchange.
The beauty space and the broader luxury segment are long known to be targets of Private Equity firms. This is the case for Douglas, backed by CVC Capital Partners, and similarly Galderma, backed by EQT Partners. The recent IPOs prove that there is a trend in the current environment where these buyout firms aim to get the ‘exit’, that is cash in on the investments and offload assets, or parts thereof, on the public market. The new capital is even more important in the case of high leverage firms, as is the case for both Galderma and Douglas. The beauty market is undoubtedly of high interest for all investors, private and public alike. Mergers, buyout deals, and public listings prove the case and are the cherry on top.
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