POELLATH advises the owner family Kreke on the Douglas IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

The DOUGLAS Group (“DOUGLAS”), a leading distributor of beauty products throughout Europe, has returned to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after a break of several years. The total placement volume is approximately 34.2 million shares at a price of EUR 26.00 per share. Of these, approximately 32.7 million are newly issued shares and approximately 1.5 million are existing shares. Trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s regulated market (Prime Standard) commenced on March 21, 2024. POELLATH provided comprehensive tax advice to the owner family Kreke in connection with the IPO.

The total volume of the offering amounts to around EUR 890 million, with gross proceeds for DOUGLAS of around EUR 850 million, corresponding to a market capitalization of approximately EUR 2.8 billion. The proceeds from the IPO, together with an additional equity injection, available cash and capital inflow from a new EUR 1.6 billion loan agreement, will be used to fully repay (refinance) existing financial liabilities.

POELLATH provided comprehensive tax advice to the owner family Kreke, which still holds around 10.2 percent of the Douglas shares after the flotation, in connection with the IPO with the following Munich-based team:

• Dr. Michael Best (partner, tax)
• Dr. Tobias Deschenhalm (senior associate, tax)
• Cornelius L. Roth (associate, tax)