J.Crew considers public offering on Madewell brand

J.Crew has announced a variety of strategies it has put under consideration as an effort to cut debt and re-position its divisions. The group has been struggling for some time, and currently has a debt amounting to 1.67 billion dollars.

According to a statement released on Thursday, J.Crew "is actively exploring strategic alternatives to maximize [its] value." Following consultation from legal and financial advisors, the group is considering a initial public offering of its Madewell brand. This could happen as soon as the second half of 2019.

The brand recognizes the potential IPO as a way to "position both the J.Crew and Madewell brands for long-term growth, and deleverage and strengthen the [group's] balance sheet."

Along with this news, the J.Crew group has named president and CEO Michael J. Nicholson as Interim CEO. He said in the statement, "I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and our team to build on the decisive actions we have taken to date to refocus our strategy and improve performance in 2019 with the goal of returning J.Crew to profitability, while working with Libby to continue the strong growth at Madewell.

"We believe a potential IPO of Madewell, which had another record year of performance in 2018, could unlock significant value and generate meaningful proceeds that would strengthen our balance sheet and increase our overall financial flexibility to address our 2021 debt maturities, giving us an improved platform to support J.Crew's turnaround and allowing Madewell to achieve its full potential over the long-term."