MADRID, July 9 (Reuters) - Puig will join

Spain's blue-chip equities index on July 22, the stock market's

advisory committee said on Tuesday, just over two months after

the cosmetics company completed the country's biggest initial

public offering in nearly a decade.

Puig will replace Melia Hotels in the IBEX 35

index.

Puig's share price has risen more than 3% since its market

debut, in part as investors bet the owner of Rabanne and

Carolina Herrera perfumes would join indexes such as the IBEX,

which until now has lacked a major luxury presence.

Its shares were last trading at 25.35 euros, valuing the

company at more than 14 billion euros ($15 billion).

Puig went public after buying brands such as luxury label

Byredo and Charlotte Tilbury make-up in recent years to better

compete with rivals L'Oreal and Estee Lauder ( EL ).

Its in-house brands such as Rabanne brought in net revenues

of more than 1 billion euros in 2023, with Jean Paul Gaultier

showing the fastest growth within the portfolio.

In its first note on Puig, JP Morgan forecast the company

would benefit from strong demand for premium perfumes as well as

make-up and skincare, and said the shares could reach 32 euros

apiece by December 2025.

The Barcelona-based company, in which the Puig family

retains a majority stake, posted a 10.1% year-on-year increase

in net sales in the first quarter of 2024, outpacing the wider

premium beauty market.

Bank of America ( BAC ) and JP Morgan expect Puig's sales to

continue to grow ahead of listed peers. They also see

opportunities for mergers and acquisitions as Puig has said

proceeds from its IPO would help fund investments.

($1 = 0.9240 euros)