Today’s public offering for Coty, maker of perfumes, including fragrances for Heidi Klum (above) and Beyoncé, could top $1 billion. (Reuters)
It smells like money.
Perfume maker Coty Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17.50 — the midpoint of the proposed range.
The New York company’s IPO raised about $1 billion for existing shareholders.
The IPO would make Coty the largest IPO for an US-listed consumer-products company, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Coty, whose products include perfumes for Heidi Klum and Beyoncé and under the Calvin Klein name, as well as Sally Hansen nail polish, expects growth overseas to fuel expansion.
It will start trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol COTY.
Revenue last year reached $4.6 billion, up 32 percent from $3.48 billion in 2010.
Investors did not shy away from the Coty deal even though the controlling Reimann family will give itself 10 votes per share and maintain its grip on the company.
The company is not receiving any proceeds from the IPO, according to regulatory filings.
Last year, the 109-year- old company made an unsuccessful effort to purchase door-to-door beauty seller Avon for $10.7 billion.
Despite the support of Warren Buffett, Coty failed to close the deal after Avon’s board insisted it raise its offer and Coty declined.
The deal could have given Coty a global sales force to better market its stable of brands.
In 2010, the company acquired skin-care companies, Philosophy, and bought a $400 million majority stake in China’s TJoys Holdings.
The company noted in their IPO filings that it expects to ring up 3 percent to 4 percent annual growth between 2013 and 2016.
The company generated 53 percent of revenue last year from its fragrances and is the No. 2 worldwide seller of perfumes.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley led the sale.