German beauty retailer Douglas is placing a bet on the public markets, making a rebound in Europe this year. The private equity–backed retailer is looking to raise as much as €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) through a listing in Frankfurt.

Douglas is targeting €800 ($868 million) in proceeds, with an additional equity injection of around €300 million euros from existing shareholders, including majority owner CVC Capital Partners. Based on enterprise value, the business is being valued between €5.5 to €6.5 billion, including debt.

Dusseldorf-based Douglas' roots date back to 1821. Douglas was delisted from the stock exchange in 2013 after a joint takeover by Advent International and the Kreke family. in 2015 CVC acquired Douglas from investor Advent International for about €2.8 billion.

Today the retailer operates more than 1,800 stores in over 20 European countries with 18,000 employees and 57 million loyalty program members. Douglas generated net sales of €4 billon and underlying profits of €725 million in the financial year to the end of September 2023. Net debt was €3.4 billion.

CVC and the Kreke family do not intend to sell shares in the offering with CVC, continuing to hold an indirect majority interest in Douglas. The proceeds will be used to reduce debt and will refinance its remaining borrowings in connection with the IPO.

"The Douglas Group is ideally positioned to further capitalise on the large and resilient European premium beauty market," CEO Sander van der Laan said in a statement, calling an IPO the "logical next step" in the company's growth strategy.

By 2026, van der Laan wants to increase sales by an average of 7% per year to more than five billion euros. 

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