Coty prepares for a very public close-up An investor roadshow promoting Coty's forthcoming initial public offering is expected to kick off in the coming weeks, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley leading the share offering. Founded in Paris in 1904 by François Coty, the company has grown into a global operation employing 12,000 people and generating $4.6bn in sales in the year that ended on June 30. Coty, which has its headquarters in New York, last year signed pop star Katy Perry to develop her own line of signature fragrances. Ms Perry joins Coty's stable of celebrities and luxury brands that includes Calvin Klein, Chloé, Marc Jacobs and Playboy. But for the privately owned cosmetics and fragrance group behind some of the world's highest-profile beauty brands, the question is whether it is finally ready for its public close-up. Last year it spent months in the spotlight amid its ultimately unsuccessful $10.7bn pursuit of larger rival Avon. The ambitious move was the latest in its rise to becoming a market leader alongside the world's top cosmetics brands. But as the potential deal collapsed - Avon believed it was worth more money - Coty watched its profile splattered across the world's front pages. Soon the company realised it faced its own makeover. One year into his chairmanship, Bart Becht, the former Reckitt Benckiser chairman, had to find a replacement after the unexpected retirement of longtime chief executive Bernd Beetz last July. Mr Beetz, a former LVMH executive, had spent the previous 11 years building up Coty through acquisitions. He said it was the right time to step down, and a $44m sweetener in the event of his retirement surely helped ease the way. However, others say his retirement was highly unusual given his expertise in the field, and suggested his exit may have had something to do with a dispute over the size of his ongoing stake in Coty. The company declined to comment. The task of guiding the group fell to Michele Scannavini, who was brought in to fill Mr Beetz's shoes. After a decade leading Coty Prestige, the group's luxury - and most profitable - arm, Mr Scannavini was given time to deal with the aftermath of some of Mr Beetz's legacy investments. A string of security filings since October has revealed that Coty overpaid on two acquisitions in 2010 that resulted in $573m in writedowns. On the face of it, a hasty attempt to expand into skincare was understandable. Coty lacks firepower in Asia, where consumer appetite for western beauty brands is booming and skincare is king. Skincare in the region currently represents 63 per cent of the beauty market, compared with just 32 per cent in the US. Competition from rivals such as L'Oréal and Estée Lauder is fierce. But TJoy, the Chinese skincare group which Coty bought for $352m, failed to provide the foothold in the region that management hoped for. Coty has since blamed the unit's dismal performance on the "earlier than expected departure of the TJoy" chief executive as well as the "sudden and unexpected departure of certain other key employees." A $930m acquisition of the US-based high-end Philosophy label also failed to meet the company's expectations. For potential investors, the concern must be what other surprises await the company as it expands into new brands and new markets. At the same time, it seems its majority stakeholder, Joh. A. Benckiser, the German family holding group that represents the $20bn interests of the reclusive Reimann family, is in the mood to sell out.