Roots, the Canadian lifestyle apparel chain, has filed for an initial public offering in order to ramp up its expansion efforts in North America and Asia.
The amount of shares sold the projected prices have not yet been disclosed. The retailer is seeking to raise about Canadian $200 million in the share sale and could have a market value of about C$700 million ($574 million) after listing, sources told Bloomberg.
Established in 1973, Roots sells a wide range of premium apparel, leather goods, accessories and footwear. As of July 29, the company had 116 corporate retail stores in Canada, 4 corporate retail stores in the U.S., 109 partner-operated stores in Taiwan, 27 partner-operated stores in China and a global e-commerce platform that shipped to 54 countries during its most recently completed fiscal year.
According to its prospectus, it plans to up to 10 stores in Canada, up to 14 in the U.S. by the end of its 2019 financial year. It also plans to add up to 25 new locations between Taiwan and China, enter Singapore and Malaysia and is exploring other international markets.
The company has applied to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ROOT.
The offering is being co-led by TD Securities Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (Canada), Inc. and BMO Capital Markets, together with Jefferies Securities, Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and Scotia Capital Inc., as joint bookrunners, and CIBC World Markets Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp. and National Bank Financial Inc., as underwriters
The offering contemplates a secondary offering of common shares of Roots by investment funds managed by private equity firm Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P., and an entity indirectly controlled by the founders of Roots, Michael Budman and Don Green.
Photo courtesy Roots
