Stars in Europe's biggest IPO of the year

MADRID/BARCELONA, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The cosmetics firm Puig will begin trading this Friday at a price of 24.5 euros per share, the highest of the range set in the prospectus, which represents a market capitalization of 13,920 million euros in what will be the largest exit to the European Stock Market so far this year.

Specifically, the shares of the Catalan company, which contemplated a price range of between 22 and 24.50 euros per share to debut on the stock market, will be listed on the Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia Stock Exchanges with the listing label 'Puig' through the Stock Market Interconnection System (Continuous Market).

The traditional bell-ringing ceremony, which marks the official start of the company's trading session in the markets, will take place today at 11:15 a.m. at the Barcelona Stock Exchange and the president of Puig, Marc Puig, will be in charge of perform the.

"Today opens a new and decisive chapter in Puig's 110-year history. The price of our offer reflects the significant demand from investors and is a recognition of the hard work and unwavering dedication of all Puig teams, which demonstrate creativity and passion for innovation every day," stressed the executive president of Puig, Marc Puig.

The company has noted that the offering has been oversubscribed multiple times across the entire price range, demonstrating "the significant demand from international and domestic institutional investors."

In fact, after the order book was opened by the placement entities one day after announcing the listing, the cosmetics firm has already achieved oversubscription of the offer, the size of which is up to 3,000 million euros.

Sources familiar with the operation have told Europa Press that "there has been a lot of demand", which guarantees the operation, taking into account that there have been sufficient orders from investors to cover the size of the offer.

The operation, aimed at institutional investors, consists of a public subscription offer (OPS) of new class B shares (51.02 million shares), with fewer political rights, and a public sale offer (IPO) of shares in hands of the Puig family.

Thus, with the OPS tranche the firm has achieved gross proceeds of approximately €1.25 billion of new funds for the company, which it will use for general corporate purposes, including the refinancing of the acquisitions of additional stakes in Byredo and Charlotte Tilbury, and supporting the growth strategy of the company's portfolio and brands.

In addition to the new shares in the offer, 55.51 million secondary shares have been awarded by the company's majority shareholder, Puig, S.L., controlled by Exea (the Puig family's holding company) for a total of 1,360 million euros.

As explained by the company, the over-allotment option granted by the selling shareholder of up to approximately 15% of the size of the offer, for an amount of up to 390 million euros, may be exercised by the stabilization agent (Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE) until June 1, 2024.

After the offer, assuming the full exercise of the over-allotment option, the Puig family, through Puig, S.L., will retain 71.7% of the company's economic rights and 92.5% of its rights. of vote.

Likewise, Puig Brands and the selling shareholder have agreed to certain commitments of non-disposal ('lock-up') with the insurance entities of the offer for a period between the date of signing the insurance contract and 180 calendar days from the admission.

Directors, senior management and certain employees of the company are also subject to certain disposition restrictions for a period between the date of signing the underwriting agreement and 365 or 180 calendar days after admission, but only with respect to a certain number of class B shares.

In the company's opinion, becoming a publicly traded company involves a "higher level of scrutiny" by investors, analysts, regulators and the market in general, "ensuring that the next generations of the Puig family are subject to the highest possible standards while steering the company in the right strategic direction.

"This will enable 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 better aligned with those of the best family-owned companies in the beauty sector. 'premium' beauty on a global scale, which have a strong shareholder core linked in most cases to their founding families, which encourages a long-term thinking approach," the firm emphasizes.

Additionally, the company believes that becoming a publicly traded company will involve "greater visibility and awareness," which should provide the company with "useful tools" for attracting and retaining talent, while opening up access to capital. as another source of financing to support the growth strategy of the company's brands and portfolio.

Regarding the remuneration of its shareholders, the group indicates that it has not approved any dividend policy. However, it indicates that it intends to distribute cash dividends in the near future "in a prudent manner", the first of them after its offer in 2025 and charged to 2024 results.

In this case, it plans to maintain a 'pay out' (ratio of dividend over attributable profit) of approximately 40%, in line with its dividend history, without affecting its objectives of continuing to grow its business and execute its business plan. .

For its part, CriteriaCaixa, the holding company that manages the business assets of the 'la Caixa' Foundation, has acquired class B shares representing approximately 3.05% of the share capital of Puig Brands, within the Public Offering process ( IPO).

To this end, CriteriaCaixa has committed an investment of 425 million euros, in an operation that is part of its investment policy, which "selects leading companies in highly attractive sectors, with the capacity for growth and generation of value."

In this sense, this investment will allow Criteria to gain exposure to the fashion and beauty industry, which has proven, according to the entity, to be resilient in crisis situations, with annual growth of close to 5% for decades.

Likewise, CriteriaCaixa highlighted that the 'pay-out' proposal announced by Puig fits into its strategy of seeking investment options with a long-term focus that maximize dividend profitability, and that allow it to generate the necessary resources so that its sole shareholder , the 'la Caixa' Foundation, can carry out its social action.

Taking advantage of its IPO, Puig will debut a new logo. Created in collaboration with Parisian art and design agency M/M, the new logo is based on the work of Swiss designer Yves Zimmerman for the company and includes an original typeface, Parallel, which "reinterprets the spirit of Méridien", a typeface 1955 by Adrian Frutiger that Zimmerman established for Puig more than 50 years ago.

It includes a new symbol that evokes "an infinite line of creativity" inspired by a painting by Miró, while also evoking the 1970s Puig logo designed by Zimmerman.