Levi Strauss & Co announces launch of IPO

It’s official: Levi Strauss & Co will be returning to Wall Street after a hiatus of 35 years. The company announced today that it has commenced an initial public offering (IPO) of 36,666,667 shares of its Class A common stock. The price is currently expected to be between 14 US dollars and 16 US dollars per share.

Levi Strauss & Co is offering 9,466,557 shares of Class A common stock and selling stockholders are offering 27,200,110 shares of Class A common stock. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy an additional 5,500,000 shares of Class A common stock from the company at the IPO price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “LEVI” and Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan have been tapped to serve as join lead book-running managers.

Founded in 1853 in San Francisco, Levi Strauss & Co first went public in 1971 but was taken private again in 1985. The company is credited with creating the first pair of blue jeans, the Levi’s 501 Original. But Levi's is not the only brand in its portfolio: Levi Strauss & Co. also owns Denizen, Dockers and Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. The company's net revenues rose 9 percent to 1.59 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter of 2018, but profit dropped 17 percent to 97 million US dollars. Full-year revenues grew 14 percent to 5.58 billion US dollars, with net income of 285 million US dollars.

Picture: Levi’s Facebook