The San Francisco-based, iconic American clothing company, Levi Strauss & Co. – known for creating the first pair of blue jeans -- is planning to go public again (according to the report published by CNBC).
Looking to raise somewhere between $600 million to $800 million, the company is targeting the first quarter of 2019 to go public.
With an aim to debut with a valuation upward of $5 billion, the company hired Goldman Sachs (GS) and J.P. Morgan (JPM) to manage the deal. However, the timing and size of the offering hasn’t been disclosed yet and might change also.
Levi's has been in this position before, back in 1971 when it became one of the largest IPO’s ever by generating proceeds worth around $50 million. But as profits and revenue started declining, the company ran into trouble and finally the descendants of Levi Strauss took the company private in a $1.7 billion leveraged buyout deal in 1984.
Currently headed by Mr. Chip Bergh, a former Proctor &Gamble executive, the company’s recent string of strong commendable performance along with a strong balance sheet is considered to be the main reason for going public again. For the August ending quarter, the company reported a total revenue of $1.4 billion - a 10% increase from the same quarter in 2017. Net income for the quarter stood at $130 million, representing a growth of 45%. According to the fillings, the company has also reduced its debt to almost half of what it was two years ago.