(Bloomberg) -- Antonio Puig’s first business ended in ruin during World War I when a German submarine sank a ship carrying his uninsured cargo. His second act, though, has led to one of the world’s largest fortunes.

Members of the 110-year-old Puig dynasty are the biggest individual winners in this week’s initial public offering of their namesake perfume and cosmetics company. The offering — Europe’s largest listing this year — is creating a major liquidity event for the family and will help transform how they manage their wealth.

The Spanish dynasty with more than a dozen heirs now has a total fortune of about $12 billion through its stake in Barcelona-based Puig Brands SA, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, based on Tuesday’s pricing of €24.50 ($26.30) per share. The stock, which priced at the top end of the range, is due to begin trading Friday in Madrid.

The family is also selling more than $1 billion of Puig shares, reducing ties to the company behind brands such as Rabanne, Jean Paul Gaultier and Carolina Herrera as the dynasty’s third generation is set to be the last one to run the business. The windfall will accelerate efforts to diversify the wealth of the Puigs, who in recent years have shifted more of their money into real estate and venture capital.

A representative for Puig Brands declined to comment.

Read More: Spanish Beauty Billionaires Seek IPO to Ease Family Succession

Beyond affording the Puigs the opportunity to cash out, the listing is fueling hopes of a rebound in European IPOs, even though a full recovery isn’t expected until next year. Companies have raised about $8.6 billion through listings this year, more than double the amount in the same period of 2023. 

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners Plc’s long-awaited debut on Friday led to a 17% jump in its stock from the offering price, one of the best performances for a $1 billion-plus offering in Europe in more than three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Puig Brands’ founding family will still control a majority stake when it starts trading, with that holding continuing to make up the bulk of its fortune, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

Lipstick Bet

Antonio Puig founded the firm in 1914 and initially distributed perfumes before producing his own line of products, including “Milady,” the first lipstick manufactured in Spain.

The bulk of the company’s growth came from perfumes under license. In the 1950s, Antonio’s sons led a global expansion in countries such as the UK, France and the US, with international business eventually overtaking domestic sales shortly after the beginning of the new century.

Marc Puig, now 62, took over as chief executive officer in 2004 and is one of two third-generation family members working for the group, which has said the next crop of the family won’t be involved in daily affairs. The company has more than doubled its revenue in the past decade, partly from acquisitions of rival businesses, including the 2020 purchase of a majority stake in British makeup and skincare brand Charlotte Tilbury. It also bought a majority stake this year in German skincare brand Dr. Barbara Sturm.

The Puigs have already had success in public markets.

Marc’s cousin, Manuel, also 62, the only other family member involved in Puig Brands as a director and board member, surfaced in late 2012 with a stake in Fluidra SA, a Barcelona-based maker of swimming pools.

Fluidra’s stock has since risen almost 1,000%, and Manuel boosted his ownership to about 7% in the past year or so — a holding worth more than $250 million. 

The Puigs have at least a similar sum tied up in property developer Inmobiliaria Colonial Socimi SA through the real estate unit of its family office, Exea. The family boosted its stake in the Barcelona-based company last month, about seven years after it emerged as a major shareholder, filings show.

Led by former Arthur Andersen manager and Puig Brands veteran Andrés Sterba, Exea has another investment arm, Lavanda Ventures, that has allocated money in recent years to health-care startups, according to registry filings. Lavanda takes its name from a perfume released by Anthony Puig in 1940 that became one of its flagship products and is still on sale today.

--With assistance from Swetha Gopinath, Macarena Muñoz, Tom Maloney and Rodrigo Orihuela.

(Updates IPO pricing in third paragraph.)

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