Perfume maker Coty Inc. raised around US$1 billion in an initial public offering on behalf of its shareholders. The shares were priced at midpoint of the proposed range.

The billionaire Reimann family who were also owners of Coty sold 57.1 million shares. According to a statement issued yesterday, the said shares were valued at US$17.50. This was after offering them for US$16.50 to US$18.50 piece per share.

The stock will start its trading today as listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The perfume maker attracted buyers as Coty makes efforts to increase their sales and adding new skin-care products to its brand line. The Reimanns were set to maintain control with 10 votes per share. New shareholders are given one voter per share.

Coty has an enterprise value of roughly US$8.6 billion at the offering price. This includes net debt about eleven times earnings prior interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. This was during the past 12 months that ended March 31 of this year according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.