Beauty Giant Natura Mulls Move to NYSE to Narrow Gap With Rivals

(Bloomberg) -- Cosmetics maker Natura &Co is assessing switching its primary stock listing to the U.S. from Brazil as it seeks to narrow some of its discount to global peers and access a broader pool of investors. 

The Sao Paulo-based company’s results have been consistently outperforming the cosmetics, fragrances and toiletries market, yet its valuation lags those of rivals, Chief Executive Officer Roberto Marques said on a conference call Friday with analysts and investors. 

“We still see significant upside relative to market in terms of multiples,” Marques said.

Shares of Natura plunged as much as 18% Friday, the most since March 2020, after pushing out its Ebitda margin goal to 2024.. They have slid 36% this year, while the BI Global Cosmetics Valuation Peers is up 13%. 

The company, which purchased Avon Products Inc. last year and also owns the Natura, Body Shop and Aesop brands, is studying listing shares on the New York Stock Exchange, while also having Brazilian depositary receipts trade on the Sao Paulo stock exchange. That’s opposite the current structure: it has shares trading in Sao Paulo and ADRs in the U.S. 

Natura joins a queue of Brazilian companies interested in a deeper pool of cash and richer multiples than is available in their home market. Banco Inter SA, the digital lender backed by SoftBank Group Corp., hired banks for a corporate restructuring aimed at transferring its listing to New York.

About 70% of Natura’s revenues already come from outside Brazil, Marques said.

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