Perfume Retailer Douglas Guides IPO Pricing at Bottom of Range

Swetha Gopinath, Bloomberg News

Douglas Home Spa Leilani Bliss Eau de Toilette. , Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- German perfume retailer Douglas AG priced its €890 million ($967 million) initial public offering at €26 a share, the bottom of a marketed range.

The CVC Capital Partners-backed firm sold about 32.7 million new shares and raised about €850 million, while current stockholders sold around 1.5 million existing shares, according to a statement. The offering values the company at around €2.8 billion.

Shares are set to start trading on Thursday, the statement shows. The company will also receive €300 million via an equity injection from existing shareholders, previous statements have shown.

Holders CVC and the founding Kreke family will remain invested in Douglas after the listing.

The listing comes as IPOs pick up after two slow years brought on by the surge in interest rates. Skin-care business Galderma Group AG is looking to raise about $2.3 billion in Switzerland, while buyout firm Permira is looking to list luxury Italian shoemaker Golden Goose and German fashion retail club Best Secret, Bloomberg News has reported.

CVC acquired Douglas — whose roots date back to 1821 — in 2015 for about €2.8 billion. Douglas, a well-known chain on European shopping streets, has been building out a network of more than 1,800 stores in 22 countries and expanding its e-commerce offerings across Europe.

The company is touting itself as an investment opportunity for European fund managers looking for a pure-play investment in higher-end beauty products. Douglas’s biggest rival, Sephora, is owned by LVMH, the French luxury giant that also owns brands ranging from Hennessy cognac to Dior fashion.

Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UniCredit SpA and UBS Group AG are working on the Douglas offering.

(Updates throughout with confirmation of pricing.)