Coty eyes up to $700M in IPO

NEW YORK — Coty has filed to raise as much as $700 million in an initial public offering. The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission comes about a month after the beauty company dropped its bid for Avon because of Avon’s “delay and unwillingness to engage in discussions.”



In the filing, Coty told the SEC that it intends to list the Class A common stock on either the NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COTY.” Coty did not reveal how many shares it plans to sell or their expected price.



According to the filing, BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters of the IPO.



Coty stated that its top 10 brands, which it refers to as “power brands,” are expected to generate approximately 70% of its net revenues in fiscal 2012 and comprise the following globally recognized brands: Adidas, Calvin Klein, Chloé, Davidoff, Marc Jacobs, OPI, Philosophy, Playboy, Rimmel and Sally Hansen.



Its business has a diversified revenue base that is expected to generate net revenues for fiscal 2012 of 53%, 30% and 17% from fragrances, color cosmetics, and skin and body care, respectively.



For the nine months ended March 31, Coty posted net income of $32.9 million on revenue of $3.58 billion.



As previously reported by Drug Store News, last month Coty dropped a $10.7 billion takeover bid for Avon.



Coty had advised Avon in early May that it was sweetening its proposal to $24.75 per share from $23.25. Coty had requested that Avon respond to the revised proposal by the end of business on May 14. Avon responded to the revised proposal, indicating that it was considering the sweetened bid and its board expected to respond within a week. Just days later, Coty indicated that since it had submitted its revised proposal, and despite repeated requests over the last 24 hours, no one from Avon's board or management has been willing to speak with Coty.