PARIS — Beauty M&A may be slow Stateside, but global IPO season is about to kick off — again.
Initial public offerings were rife in the European beauty space in 2024. Galderma Group, Puig and Douglas Group all floated, with two of those ultimately ranking among the year’s largest IPOs.
Now, 2025 is gearing up to be active on the global stage, with listings in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Australia and South Korea. Helping fuel the momentum are improving economic confidence, plus the dearth of investments or acquisitions on the part of large strategics and private-equity funds, particularly in the U.S.
Where to IPO is increasingly the question.
“Given the macro trends, there is definitely an open debate between the U.S., Europe and Asia,” said Alban Bouley, global head of consumer retail and health care at BNP Paribas. “Specifically as to beauty, HPC (Home and Personal Care), Asia remains a strong place for growth potential in the midterm. The Middle East is a region that most players are looking at closely.”
There, 2025 has already started with a bang. Nice One, Saudi Arabia’s leading makeup e-commerce platform, launched an IPO on the Tadawul Main Market on Jan. 8. Company shares were offered at SAR 35, or $9.33, and increased 30 percent during the first day of trading to SAR 45.50. Nice One raised the equivalent of approximately $323.4 million, implying a market capitalization of more than $1 billion.
Other floats — of various sizes — are expected.
South Korea’s leading indie beauty brand d’Alba’s parent Bmonument is undergoing an IPO process. The company expects to execute in May on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or KOSPI, and to raise $25 million. That would represent a market cap of about $700 million.
Stormeur Group, which operates Cosmétique beauty and cosmetics clinics in Australia, has launched a 7 million Australian dollar, or $4.35 million, capital raise. Its IPO is likely to launch around Oct. 21 on the Australian Securities Exchange and is contingent on the issue of a maximum of 35 million shares with a unit price of AU 20 cents each.
Malaysia’s Empro Group, maker and distributor of cosmetics and health care products, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO. It is reported the company plans to raise up to $5 million.
There are also rumblings that India’s Sugar Cosmetics, and South Korea’s Memebox, L&P Cosmetics and Easytem — none of which could be reached for comment — are among groups that could be gearing up to list. Meanwhile, industry sources keep speculating Rare Beauty could look to sell or do an IPO.
All the beauty companies mulling IPOs this year will no doubt be studying 2024’s crop of mega-IPOs, which occurred even as other consumer staples began suffering.
“Beauty was the only subvertical within consumer staples that showed strong resilience, until the first half of last year, because of the over-performance of some categories related to fragrance or beauty,” said Bouley.
Galderma, the maker of Cetaphil, rang the bell of the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich on March 22, 2024, closing the day up 20.75 percent to 64 Swiss francs, or $70.25, from its IPO price of 53 Swiss francs a share. It began trading at 61 Swiss francs, an increase of 15.1 percent from that IPO price.
“Feedback from investors was that the IPO was priced at a level where [they] thought that there was ample room for further multiple increases, while also ensuring strong overall performance,” said Céline Pannuti, head of European staples and beverage research at J.P. Morgan.
The implied valuation of up to 2.3 billion Swiss francs made Galderma’s the largest IPO placement volume in Switzerland since 2017. It became the fifth largest IPO worldwide.
A pure-play dermatology leader and among the largest in injectable aesthetics, Galderma has caught the eye of investors, including L’Oréal, which acquired a minority stake in the company in August.
“L’Oréal has taken a 10 percent share, which is a high vote of confidence. This opens the question about whether there will be further stake-building over time,” said Pannuti. Galderma’s stock has risen 48.14 percent since its IPO.
By comparison, Douglas’ shares have sunk 24.1 percent since the German retailer relisted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on March 23, 2024. On its first day back on the market, Douglas stock fell sharply in early trading and closed down 11.1 percent against the opening price of 22.66 euros.
Its backers CVC Capital Partners and the Kreke family planned to use 850 million euros of the IPO proceeds to pay off debt, while 300 million euros were to be injected to bulk up Douglas’ coffers. Subsequently, the company’s financials have been gaining strength. In December, Douglas increased its sales growth guidance for its 2024-25 fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, to 4.7 billion euros and 4.8 billion euros, versus 4.45 billion euros for fiscal 2023-24. Annual net profit swelled 404 percent to 84 million euros.
“Douglas has delivered in-line or better-than-expected results since its IPO in March at the group level,” wrote Adam Cochrane, a research analyst at Deutsche Bank, in a recent note. That then begs the question about the stock’s performance.
“The only real rationale we can give is the absolute debt level, lack of a dividend and the limited free float with fear of a further equity sell down by CVC,” continued Cochrane. “In our view, it may take patience, but the category remains attractive, the management team is executing on its strategy and the valuation looks compelling with a favorable risk/reward looking at 2025.”
Puig’s IPO ranked fourth worldwide in 2024, generating 2.6 billion euros. On May 3, 2024, its first day of trading, the Spanish beauty and fashion giant opened at 25.50 euros a share, above the 24.50-euro price offer. However, the stock closed the day flat. At the time, Puig’s was the largest IPO in Europe for 2024 and the biggest in Spain since 2015.
Yet company shares are currently trading down 29.2 percent against the float price. Some industry experts question whether Puig management should have told investors to expect first-half growth would be at a slower pace. Its IPO timing also may have played a role in the softness, as Puig floated mid-second quarter, when the beauty market was still ebullient. But by the three-month period’s end more caution abounded.
Puig stock tumbled on a couple of specific occasions last year. On Sept. 6, after it released numbers for the first time as a publicly listed company, reporting a 26 percent decline in first-half earnings due to costs linked to its IPO, shares fell 13 percent.
On Dec. 6, the stock sunk as much as 9 percent after Puig announced it was withdrawing a batch of Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray because of a quality issue. Puig said at the time the voluntarily withdrawal was expected to impact the performance of its makeup segment, but not have a material effect on the group’s overall full-year performance.
“Puig has outperformed its peer set in terms of the fragrance industry,” said Pannuti. “The problem is that makeup has been hit, and makeup has been the big bet they’ve done with Charlotte Tilbury.”
Still, Puig says the brand’s sell-out remains strong, and Pannuti believes it has white space opportunity to launch in other regions, as well as to gain market share in developed geographies where it is already present.
Mao Geping went public in Hong Kong.
Courtesy
Europe wasn’t the only place where beauty IPOs created a stir in 2024. Just before the new year rolled in, on Dec. 10, celebrity makeup artist brand Mao Geping had a $300 million market debut in Hong Kong. It made history as the first Chinese beauty brand to list on the city’s stock exchange. Company shares opened there at 47.65 Hong Kong dollars, or $6.12, and closed at 52.60 Hong Kong dollars. They are currently trading up 10.7 percent since the float.
Other firsts — and surprises — are no doubt yet to come in 2025.
“We still have a lot of small-sized companies which do not yet qualify for an IPO, but I feel confident [they] may enjoy the necessary growth for such an operation in the coming years,” said Bouley.
BOX
Five Global Beauty IPOs in 2025:
• Nice One in Saudi Arabia
• Bmonument in South Korea
• Stormeur Group in Australia
• Empro Group in the U.S.
• Memebox in South Korea
