Companies and Brands

Levi Strauss Enters the Market With a Bang

Chris Lange

Published: March 21, 2019 12:00 pm

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 6:08 am

Levi Strauss & Co (NYSE: LEVI) entered the market with a bang in its initial public offering (IPO). The stock launched at just over $22, well above its initial pricing at $17. The company originally expected to price its 36.67 million shares in the range of $14 to $16.

The underwriters for the offering are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Guggenheim Securities, HSBC, Drexel Hamilton, Telsey Advisory Group and Williams Capital Group.

This company designs, markets and sells products that include jeans, casual and dress pants, tops, shorts, skirts, jackets, footwear and related accessories for men, women and children around the world under the Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss and Denizen brands. With $5.6 billion in net revenues and sales in more than 110 countries in fiscal year 2018, this is one of the world’s leading apparel companies, with the Levi’s brand having the highest brand awareness in the denim bottoms category globally.

The business is operated through three geographic regions that comprise its reporting segments: 1) the Americas, 2) Europe and 3) Asia, which includes the Middle East and Africa. Levi Strauss services consumers through its global infrastructure, developing, sourcing and marketing products around the world. The Americas, Europe and Asia segments contributed 55%, 29% and 16%, respectively, of net revenues in fiscal year 2018.

Levi Strauss detailed its finances as follows:

Net revenues have grown from $4.8 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2018, representing a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 2.3%. Net income has grown from $135 million in fiscal year 2011 to $285 million in fiscal year 2018, representing a CAGR of 11.3%.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to increase financial flexibility, for working capital and for general corporate purposes.

Shares of Levi Strauss were last seen up over 34% at $22.86, in a range of $22.00 to $23.15 for the day thus far. Also, over 27 million shares had moved as of noon Eastern.