Joining a growing list of consumer companies looking to enter the public markets and tap consumer interest, KKR-backed Wella filed for a US IPO on August 31 that it estimates could raise more than $500 million.
The company traces its roots to 1880 when German hairdresser Franz Ströher founded the business making netting material used for wigs. The Wella brand was launched in 1924 with a product range that included perming and wet-perming agents, bleaching agents, hair coloring, and soaps for head hygiene.
The business evolved through a series of acquisitions, most recently KKR’s 2020 carve-out of Coty when it bought a 60% stake from the beauty conglomerate. In 2021, Coty swapped around 9% of its stake in Wella in a $426.5 million deal with KKR. In December 2025, KKR acquired the remaining 25.8% stake for $750 million, while Coty retained rights to 45% of any proceeds from a further sale or an IPO of the business, after KKR’s preferred return had been met.
Wella calls itself the world’s largest pure-play hair and nail company, with a portfolio of brands that operate in both the professional and retail channels, including Wella Professionals, ghd, Clairol, OPI, Wella/Koleston, Sebastian Professional, and Nioxin.
The company has a presence in over 100 countries, serves over 250,000 hair and nail salons, and employs over 6,000 people, with primary offices in Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, as well as a large R&D facility in Darmstadt, Germany.
Wella reported net income of $2.7 million on $2.94 billion of revenue for the year ended June 30, 2026, compared with a net loss of $44.6 million on revenue of $2.69 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wella plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol WELA, and proceeds of the IPO will be used for purposes including repaying debt and the tax consequences of a restructuring.
Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, KKR, J.P. Morgan, William Blair, TD Securities, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, BBVA, Commerzbank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mizuho Securities, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Piper Sandler, Raymond James, and UniCredit Capital Markets are the lead underwriters on the deal.
