Cosmetics giant Coty raises one billion dollars in IPO

NEW YORK, United States - Cosmetics giant Coty raised about $1 billion in its initial public offering as its shares are set to trade Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company, whose products are endorsed by celebrities like Katy Perry and Beyonce, sells beauty products and perfumes under such brand names as Chloe, Davidoff, Marc Jacobs, OPI, Rimmel and Sally Hansen.

According to a company statement released late Wednesday, 57.14 million shares will begin trade under the ticker symbol COTY at the IPO of $17.50 each.

That put the company value at $6.7 billion.

This is the third-largest IPO in the United States this year. The public trading debut of Zoetis, Pfizer's animal health division, raised $2.2 billion, and the US subsidiary of the Dutch insurer ING raised $1.3 billion in May, according to Renaissance Capital.

Founded by French parfumer Francois Coty in Paris in 1904, Coty currently is based in New York. Since the 1990s its main shareholder has been Joh. A. Benckiser holding company of the Austro-German Reimann family. Private-equity firms Berkshire Partners and Rhone Capital own the remaining shares.

Coty had $4.5 billion in revenues in its fiscal year that ended in June 2012.

Its fragrance portfolio ranges from Casmir perfume for Swiss luxury jewelry and watchmaker Chopard to hip-hop perfumes Baby Phat and Phat Farm.

In May, Coty withdrew its $10.7 billion takeover bid for its larger, struggling US rival Avon.