Revlon Shares in the Pink With IPO

Revlon Inc. and models Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer sashayed onto Wall Street on Thursday, stirring up a frenzy for shares in the nation’s third-largest cosmetics company as it went public.

The New York-based firm launched an initial public offering weeks after it announced a surge in 1995 sales, thanks partly to the success of its longer-lasting ColorStay makeup line, worn by Crawford and Schiffer in Revlon’s advertising.

Revlon is the maker of its eponymous line as well as of brands such as Almay, Ultima II and Jean Nate.

Its 7.9 million common shares were priced at $24 apiece late Wednesday. They quickly shot up to a high of $29.625 within the first 30 minutes of trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, and ended the day at $27.625.

Demand was six times more than the supply of stock, which had been expected to be worth only $19 to $22 early this week. The offering follows the successful one last November of cosmetics maker Estee Lauder Cos.

Excitement intensified on the already-busy NYSE floor as Crawford and Schiffer accompanied NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso and billionaire Ronald Perelman--who retains control of Revlon with 97.7% of the stock’s voting power--on a tour of the trading floor. An NYSE official said the models bought 100 shares apiece.

Revlon said the offering’s proceeds will be used to reduce its debt of about $1.47 billion. The offering also marks a reentry for the stock on the NYSE, where it was listed until 1985, the year Revlon was taken private in a leveraged buyout led by Perelman.

Revlon plans to issue more shares in the next five years to reduce its debt further, Chief Executive Jerry Levin said.

A similar effort to go public in 1992 failed.