Düsseldorf, 26. März 2021. Douglas, Europas führende Premium-Beauty-Plattform, hat ein umfassendes Refinanzierungspaket in Höhe von 2,55 Milliarden Euro vereinbart. Damit verfügt das Unternehmen über eine starke finanzielle Position für die nächsten fünf Jahre und wird so seine Wachstumsstrategie #FORWARDBEAUTY.DigitalFirst konsequent fortsetzen.

Das Finanzierungspaket umfasst ein vorrangig besichertes Darlehen in Höhe von 600 Millionen Euro, eine vorrangig besicherte Anleihe in Höhe von 1.305 Millionen Euro, eine vorrangig besicherte PIK-Anleihe in Höhe von 475 Millionen Euro sowie eine revolvierende Kreditlinie in Höhe von 170 Millionen Euro. Die Douglas-Gesellschafter – der Finanzinvestor CVC und die Familie Kreke – haben darüber hinaus ihr Engagement und ihre weitere Unterstützung für das Unternehmen durch die Bereitstellung von zusätzlichem Eigenkapital in Höhe von 220 Millionen Euro bekräftigt.

„Wir haben unsere gesamte Finanzierungsstruktur frühzeitig auf ein solides und langfristiges Fundament gestellt“, sagte CEO Tina Müller. „Die institutionellen Investoren und unsere Eigentümer wissen um unsere operative Leistungsfähigkeit als digitales Unternehmen mit stationärem Geschäft. Douglas wird sein Potenzial als Europas führende Beauty-Plattform konsequent ausbauen und die Verzahnung von E-Commerce und stationärem Geschäft weiter vorantreiben. Das neue Finanzierungspaket gibt Douglas mehr Spielraum für das operative Geschäft und für strategische Initiativen.“

Das Closing der Refinanzierung wird für den 8. April erwartet. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt wird die bestehende Fremdfinanzierung vollständig zurückgezahlt; außerdem werden dem Unternehmen etwa 100 Millionen Euro an zusätzlichen Barreserven zugeführt.

Douglas ist mit einem Rekordwachstum im E-Commerce in das Geschäftsjahr 2020/21 gestartet und verzeichnete online ein Umsatzplus von 74 Prozent auf 433 Millionen Euro. Trotz europaweiter Lockdowns setzte Douglas im Konzern 1,2 Milliarden Euro im Auftaktquartal um; das entspricht einem Rückgang gegenüber der Vorjahres-vergleichsperiode von nur 7,1 Prozent (like-for-like) in einem mehr als herausfordernden Umfeld. In Deutschland blieben die Umsätze mit lediglich minus 3,3 Prozent (like-for-like) stabil. Unter der Prämisse DIGITAL FIRST integriert Douglas Online-Shops, Marketplace und Filialen bereits seit Herbst 2020 auf einer digital vernetzten, datenbasierten Beauty-Plattform. Damit stellt Douglas den digitalen Beauty-Handel ins Zentrum seiner Wachstumsstrategie.

 

ÜBER DOUGLAS:

Douglas ist Europas führende Premium-Beauty-Plattform. Mit über 130.000 Beauty- und Lifestyle-Produkten in Online-Shops, Beauty-Marketplace und über 2.000 Filialen inspiriert Douglas in nie dagewesener Vielfalt, individuelle Schönheit zu leben. 2021 hat Douglas die Diversitätszertifizierung der Initiative BeyondGenderAgenda erhalten und vertritt Diversität, Chancengerechtigkeit und Inklusion nach innen und außen. Der weitere Ausbau des wachstumsstarken E-Commerce steht im Zentrum des Strategieprogramms #FORWARDBEAUTY.DIGITALFIRST. Im Geschäftsjahr 2019/2020 erwirtschaftete Douglas einen Umsatz von 3,2 Milliarden Euro in den Bereichen Parfümerie, dekorative Kosmetik, Haut- und Haarpflege sowie Nahrungsergänzung und Accessoires.

 

KONTAKT INVESTOR RELATIONS

Stefanie Steiner

Head of Investor Relations

Telefon: +49 (0) 211 16847 – 8594

E-Mail: ir@douglas.de

 

PRESSEKONTAKT DOUGLAS:

Eva Krüger

Corporate Communications Manager

Telefon: +49 (0) 211 16847 – 6644

E-Mail: pr@douglas.de

 

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

The notes offering is being made by means of an offering memorandum. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the notes or any other security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in the United States or in any jurisdiction in which, or to any persons to whom, such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

The notes and the related guarantees have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered or sold within the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S), except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state or local securities laws. Accordingly, the notes and the related guarantees are being offered and sold (i) in the United States only to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and (ii) in “offshore transactions” to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S. There is no assurance that the offerings will be completed or, if completed, as to the terms on which they will be completed.

This press release has been prepared on the basis that any offer of the notes in any Member State of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) or in the United Kingdom will be made pursuant to an exemption under Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended or superseded) (the “Prospectus Regulation”) and the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of United Kingdom law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the “UK Prospectus Regulation”) from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of the notes.

The notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the EEA or the United Kingdom. For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU, as amended (“MiFID II”); (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Regulation and UK Prospectus Regulation. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014, as amended (the “PRIIPs Regulation”), for offering or selling the notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA or in the United Kingdom has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA or the United Kingdom may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.

Manufacturer target market (MiFID II product governance; UK MiFIR product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No PRIIPs or UK PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as the offering is not available to retail investors in EEA or the United Kingdom, respectively.

The distribution of this press release into certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this press release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the laws of any such jurisdiction.

 

Forward-looking Statements

 

This press release may include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws of certain applicable jurisdictions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, all statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things: the Company’s future financial conditions and performance, results of operations and liquidity; the Company’s strategy, plans, objectives, prospects, growth, goals and targets; future developments in the markets in which the Company participates or is seeking to participate; and anticipated regulatory changes in the industry in which the Company operates. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “ongoing”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “may”, “plan”, “potential”, “predict”, “project”, “target”, “seek” or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Past performance is not an indication of future results and past performance should not be taken as a representation that trends or activities underlying past performance will continue in the future. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Company’s actual financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and the development of the industry in which the Company operates, may differ materially from (and be more negative). The forward-looking statements in this document speak only as at the date of this press release and the Company and its affiliates expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to review or release any updates or revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based after the date of this press release or to update or to keep current any other information contained in this document or to provide any additional information in relation to such forward-looking statements, unless required to do so by applicable law.