Photo Illustration European Private Equity Firm CVC Capital Partners
Dusseldorf: German perfume retailer Douglas plans to kick off an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as this month, people familiar with the matter say, as owner CVC Capital Partners seeks to capitalise on a hoped-for rebound in equity capital markets.
Douglas is discussing selling about 1bil in new stock and plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. CVC is also considering selling existing shares in the offering, one of the people said.
Representatives of the buyout firm and Douglas both declined to comment.
Douglas reported sales of 4.1bil in the year through September, up 12% from a the previous year, with adjusted earnings of 725.9mil, up 22%. The company set a mid-term target for 7% annual sales growth, with a goal of more than 200 new stores over the next three years.
Bloomberg News reported in August that CVC was weighing an IPO that valued Douglas at more than 7bil.
The private equity firm picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, UniCredit SpA and UBS Group AG to lead the offering, Bloomberg reported in September.
While equity markets have mostly rebounded from the sell-off in 2022 triggered by higher interest rates, investor appetite for newly listed companies has yet to bounce back.
Only five companies went public in Germany last year, raising US$2.2bil, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That was a 77% drop in proceeds from 2022. In France, automaker Renault SA this week scrapped a planned listing of its electric vehicle arm.
Still, with investors predicting rate cuts this year, private equity firms and other owners are getting the pieces in place for a possible revival in risk-taking. — Bloomberg
